March 17, 1983

Surprising even their own trade group, American builders began work on new houses and apartments in February at an annual rate of 1.76 million units, the highest level since 1979, the Commerce Department reported today. The February figure, which was 2.9 percent above January's rate of housing starts, was the latest indication of the growing strength in the housing sector that is a major reason for the economic recovery now getting under way. Analysts attributed the strength to lower mortgage interest rates. Building Permits Up 1% The Commerce Department also said that building permits for future construction rose 1 percent in February from January's level, to an annual rate of 1.49 million, indicating that housing starts will remain strong in coming months. Both the housing starts rate and the permits rate were the highest since since September 1979. Permits had risen 13.3 percent in January.

THE open-plan bathroom, which made its first appearance at the beginning of the fitness craze several years ago, is on the way to becoming a basic amenity for some. Long hidden behind closed doors, the bathroom is now dropping its modesty and opening out into a spacious bath-dressing-exercise area. One of the newest versions of these multipurpose spaces is the pool-bathroom, with an extra-deep steeping tub or a large soaking area where the bather can enjoy comfort and contemplation. ''Bathrooms are becoming status rooms, a place in which people like to show off,'' said Estelle Ellis, president of Business Image, a marketing consultant in Manhattan. ''It is a way to let friends know that you are involved in health and body care.''

International The chief of the Soviet General Staff, Marshal Nikolai V. Ogarkov, suggested that if the American medium-range missiles planned for deployment in Europe were used against the Soviet Union, Moscow would retaliate directly against the United States. The marshal, in an interview, generally struck a moderate posture. He said that once nuclear war begins it cannot be limited and controlled. (Page A1, Column 5.) Five Salvadoran defendants were upheld by an Appellate Court judge. He ruled that the trial of five former National Guard members accused of the murder of four American churchwomen in 1980 could not proceed until a lower court provided more evidence in the case. (A6:1-3.)

JOHN V. FLEMING has a huge living room with a high ceiling but not much furniture - only a grand piano, two couches and a lamp. What take up the most space and make his living room different from all the others on University Place in Princeton, N.J., are the two old printing presses and five wooden cabinets filled with metal printer's type. Like Gutenberg and Benjamin Franklin, he is a printer. Like many latter-day lords of small presses, he prints for pleasure, not profit, on equipment that has been discarded by commercial print shops, sold at auctions and squeezed into homes. According to the American Amateur Printers' Association, there are between 10,000 and 100,000 amateur printers working out of living rooms, front halls, basements and garages around the nation. Les Boyer, the group's chairman, says a more precise estimate is difficult because some such hobbyists run off only an occasional poster or a handful of Christmas cards each winter, while others churn out multipage pamphlets or books on a more regular basis.

''The idea of nuclear war has never been tested. But by logic, to keep such a war limited will not be possible.