Lustron Homes have these features:
- One story with a rectangular Ranch Style shape
- Constructed with prefabricated panels made of steel coated with colored porcelain enamel (the same finish found on bathtubs and appliances)
- Roof, ceiling, and interior and exterior walls made entirely of porcelain-enameled steel
- Magnets or glued-on hooks used to hang pictures on walls
- Four factory-colored finishes: Desert Tan, Dove Gray, Maize Yellow, or Surf Blue
- Concrete slab foundation
- Two or three bedrooms
- Radiant heating in the ceiling
- Built-in bookcase, china cabinet, and overhead cabinets
- Combination washing machine / dishwasher
About Lustron Homes:
At the end of World War II, the United States did not have enough housing for the 12-million soldiers returning home. President Harry Truman pressured builders and suppliers to construct affordable housing. Many architects and designers, including Frank Lloyd Wright and Buckminster Fuller, tried to design inexpensive prefab housing that could be built quickly. But one of the most promising ventures was the Lustron Home by businessman and inventor Carl Strandlund. Vowing to mass-produce steel houses at the rate of 100 a day, Strandlund landed $37 million in government loans.The first Lustron house was produced in March 1948. A total of 2,498 Lustron Homes were manufactured over the next two years. The steel houses were made like cars on conveyor belts in a former aircraft plant in Columbus, Ohio. Flatbed trucks transported the Lustron panels to 36 states, where they were assembled on concrete slabs using nuts and bolts. Assembly took about two weeks. The completed house cost between $7,000 and $10,000, not including the foundation and the lot.
Orders for some 20,000 Lustron Homes poured in, but by 1950 the Lustron Corporation was bankrupt. Today, well-preserved Lustron homes are scarce. Many have been demolished. Others have been altered as homeowners added drywall walls and new exterior siding.
The rapid rise and puzzling failure of the Lustron Corporation is the subject of a documentary film, Lustron - The House America's Been Waiting For.
Lustron Homes on the Web:
- The Lustron Connection
- Lustron Preservation
- Ohio Historical Society: Lustron
- MoMA Exhibit: Home Delivery - A History of Prefabricated Housing
Further Reading About Lustron Homes:
- Lustron Homes: The History of a Postwar Prefabricated Housing Experiment
by Thomas T. Fetters (compare prices)