The problem of housing for popular sectors in Argentina was included in the state’s agenda in the early twentieth century, at the time of industrialization, population growth and the influence of hygienism. By mid-century, the idea of housing as a right and a democratizing element of welfare was installed, but this did not reach the rural areas. The explanation lies in the productivist conception of the countryside, the fragility of organized movements and the specificities of workers and producers in rural areas. This article contributes to understand the climate of ideas and normative frameworks that made rural housing a problem without a significant correlation between the 1930s and 1950s.