The families purchasing Nehemiah homes have incomes of about $25,000 a year, according to I. D. Robbins, a retired developer who supervises the construction of the Brownsville houses.

"We were very careful to create a sense of identity for each house so they blend together," Mr. Gorlin said of the evolving designs for the next Nehemiah homes.

Another church group is building an additional 540 Nehemiah homes in the South Bronx.

The neat brick Nehemiah homes have made Brownsville a neighborhood of hope reincarnate, and those involved in the project are eager to continue their success.

"Moving further down the street there's a row of Nehemiah homes, privately owned attached houses built by East Brooklyn Congregations," he said.

His view has been tempered by the legacy of 1,100 affordable Nehemiah homes and by the foundation's considerable support from the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church.

Evidently, it matters little to Mr. Giuliani that the Nehemiah homes embody the values of religious belief and social conservatism - ideals he espouses.

A Nehemiah home costs one-third less per square foot and uses a smaller public subsidy than houses built by the New York City Partnership, a much-ballyhooed nonprofit group.

So without Federal assistance, on Oct. 31, 1982, ground was broken in Brownsville for the first Nehemiah home: a three-bedroom, brick town house that sold for $39,000.

The average development cost of a Nehemiah home has been $53,500, or $46.44 a square foot.