Many modern-day Americans wouldn’t be able to survive a summer without a central air conditioning system. Those systems owe much of their existence to this small cluster of about 20 homes in the North Austin neighborhood of Allandale. In the first half of the 20th century, air conditioning was a luxury that was only found in commercial business settings. But things began to change in the 1950s, when the National Association of Homebuilders came up with the novel idea of using air conditioning equipment in a residential setting. Austin, Texas…
