Posted July 5, 200618 yr There was an article about Futuros...now Lustrons! Homes ‘steel’ stand By MATTHEW SCHOMER Special to the Tribune Chronicle SALEM –– There were fewer than 2,500 of them ever built and shipped around the United States, but this small northeast Ohio town still manages to be home to three. http://tribune-chronicle.com/articles.asp?articleID=5850
July 5, 200618 yr Great article. I have several Lustron homes either in or near my neighborhood in Columbus. They were just too far ahead of their time for the company to grow. Trivia bit: If you've ever seen the World War Two era movie "The Best Years of Our Lives" (a great flick to rent), there is a scene near the end where this former Air Force officer is raoming through a "graveyard" of surplus fighters and bombers being torn up for scrap. When the guy asks the yard foreman what's going on (as I recall), the man says the planes are being cut up for use in building new houses. It was a reference to the Lustron homes, because that's where much of the steel came from.
July 5, 200618 yr I think I posted on the one here in Centerville. There are a few others around Dayton too.
January 26, 200916 yr To show that everything old is new again, this is a very interesting story on a new design in pre-fab homes. And note the reference to the old Lustron Homes once headquartered here in Columbus. The link below will take you to the story and photos: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99250186&ps=bb3 Prefab Home Designer Bucks A Downward Trend by Matt Sepic Morning Edition, January 23, 2009 · It's not often that the terms "prefabricated home" and "modern architecture" are heard together. But a young architect in Missouri has spent a decade figuring out how to bring low prices to the realm of high design. Matt Sepic reports for member station KWMU in St. Louis.
January 26, 200916 yr ^That architect was featured in some magazine (maybe Dwell?) recently. He is the website: http://www.rocioromero.com/ I saw a Lustron home a few months ago and took a photo: http://www.citykin.com/2008/11/lustron-home.html
January 27, 200916 yr Columbus was ground zero for the Lustron home concept after WWII ended. The Lustron homes were built at a huge surplus war factory on the east side of the city. WOSU had a great one-hour documentary that is linked below w/description. Lustron, The House America's Been Waiting For www.wosu.org/archive/lustron/history.php "In the summer of 1949, Carl Strandlund opened a massive plant on the east side of Columbus for Lustron homes, dwellings made entirely of porcelain-enameled steel. A Swedish emigrant, Strandlund successfully cajoled the U.S. government into subsidizing his vision, receiving over $40 million to pursue the production of affordable housing. "We were revolutionizing a whole industry," said Richard Jones, former Lustron vice president of sales. "We were saying with our house: 'You put down a hammer and a saw and pick up a wrench.'" Though radical in its use of porcelain enameled steel, the Lustron house - a one-story, gabled-roof ranch with a bay window and side porch - looked much like other postwar-era dwellings. Behind its traditional façade, however, lay the hopes and expectations for a new era in American housing."
January 27, 200916 yr Wikipedia also has a pretty decent overview of the Lustron story at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lustron_house. And if you google "Lustron" there are many more websites/fansites solely devoted to Lustron homes. The Lustron story is a fascinating footnote to the history of housing in America. The Lustron story roughly parallels the Tucker car story of the same era (remember the movie "Tucker" starring Jeff Bridges?). In both cases, a brilliant individual radically innovated an industry. Tucker, the auto industry, and Carl Strandlund, the home construction industry. Both Tucker and Strandlund got government loans and surplus war factories to produce their innovative project. Only to have their government loans called in early to kill the innovative project in its infancy. Now, there is also the counterstory that both innovators simply overextended themselves and/or the products weren't going to be accepted by American consumers. Like Noozer, I have seen three different Lustron homes built in the Central Ohio area. Once you get beyond the Levittown styling, the Lustron home are amazing creations. And the conspiracy theories of the government killing Lustron to protect the home construction industry might be correct. The Lustron homes have been out in the environment for over 55 years. Every one of the Lustron homes I've seen are in excellent condition. The porcelain-enameled steel on the exterior walls and roof still look great after over 55 years, with virtually no maintenance! Can you imagine if Lustron homes were constructed in those post WWII suburbs instead of conventionally built homes? Roof and exterior walls that don't need repaired or replaced? That would be a threat to the home construction industry. Heck, it would still be a threat to Home Depot and Lowe's to this day!
January 27, 200916 yr ^I have mixed feelings about Lustron and prefab homes. Yes they are relatively maintenance free, but is that what we want in a house? People really want flexibility to do additions and modifications. People do not want to live in a museum. And ideally homes should be individually designed for their location.
February 18, 200916 yr I searched and found no threads devoted to Lustron homes, and only a few references at all to these once-futuristic bygones. I've gotten several shots in the last two days -- four in my hometown of Dover and two more in my current home neighborhood of Clintonville, in Columbus. Post your favorite Lustron pictures. Here are mine: DOVER The only one of the six with new cladding. This at Grant and Shafer, on Dover's south side. Smallest of the bunch. At 13th St. and Dover Ave. on the north side Corner of 5th and Cross, on the near east end One block east, a 5th and Crater CLINTONVILLE Kanawha, half block east of High Street Arden Road, east of High, near Granden Your turn
February 18, 200916 yr Although the product wasn't a commercial success in its time, the surviving homes are a strong testimonial to the soundness of the idea. All those homes still look solid and square, and all appear to have their original roofs. How many conventional homes of that era have managed to still look that good structurally, without large inputs of money, material, and labor? Most conventional roofs on houses of that age likely have been replaced three or four times, probably with a replacement of decking at some point.
February 19, 200916 yr There was a house this past weekend that caught my attention in Cleves Ohio. The main reason for my interest were the shingles. Is that common only on Lustron Homes?
February 20, 200916 yr The roof, like the whole dang house, is all steel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lustron_house
February 20, 200916 yr I got a list of eight Lustron homes in Fort Wayne from the city's historic preservation planning section. One of those may have been demolished, though. When the cold weather lets up and I get my rental property up to snuff, I'll go out camera-in-hand and see what I can do.
March 4, 200916 yr "Lustron Homes, pioneered by Swedish immigrant Carl Strundland and manufactured out of Columbus, were pre-produced houses made out of porcelain-enameled steel manufactured from 1948 to 1950."
September 30, 200915 yr Finally got around to this. Sunday was a nice day, so I took camera and map in hand and set out for an afternoon of tracking these down: Lustron Homes in Fort Wayne, Indiana September 29, 2007 All photos Copyright © 2009 by Robert E Pence 4127 Rosewood Drive Demolition of this home is imminent to make way for Rosewood Professional Park. Arrangements are being made to preserve some components for historical record. 415 W Maple Grove Avenue 316 W Fleming Avenue 4105 Webster Street 1928 Glenwood Avenue This is very unusual, definitely not a catalog item. I'm guessing an owner used components salvaged from one or more additional homes to add the breezeway, garage, and storage area. 3214 Parnell Avenue 1133 Somerset Lane 2510 Oakridge Road Given Fort Wayne's relatively flat topography, this home has a rather dramatic setting. Windows have been changed and the entry porch has been enclosed.
September 30, 200915 yr awesome rob. lustron-ish-ous portraits! you know they look very diner-like. like the edsel, lustrons certainly have a much bigger rep than the mere two years they were manufactured. and rightly so, they seem to have weathered the years quite well. better than their northeast cousins, the levitt homes.
September 30, 200915 yr awesome rob. lustron-ish-ous portraits! you know they look very diner-like. [ ... ] Speaking of which ... Same technology; porcelain-enameled steel. So long as the coating doesn't get damaged, it'll last forever through any kind of environmental assault. I think I'd like living in a Lustron home; use furniture appropriate to the time period (chrome tubing & vinyl), and Spring cleaning could be accomplished with a garden hose. No allergens, no Chinese drywall. :-D
September 30, 200915 yr Rob's Fort Wayne Lustrons -- especially the big one with additions on Glenwood -- reminded me that I forgot to post the "double-wide" Lustron in Reynoldsburg.
April 26, 201015 yr There were a couple of Lustrons around Belmont in Dayton when I grew up there in the 60s. They are cool and retro-futuristic. How are Lustron houses as far as heating and cooling? Any particular quirks to the experience of just living in one? Like does rain falling on one sound like pellets hitting the outside of a tin can or something?
April 26, 201015 yr Thanks, Ink, for the link to the Lustron registry. Very interesting. I wonder if my hometown of Dover has more Lustrons per capita than other places. In a town of barely 12,000 souls, the registry lists six Lustrons -- and it does not list the re-sided one on Shafer Ave.
April 26, 201015 yr The first one I posted, on Rosewood, is gone to make way for yet another suburban office sprawl-plex. I don't know if local preservationists succeeded in saving some components like they had hoped. Last December I spotted one on Carroll Avenue in Michigan City (IN) that I've driven past dozens of times without noticing. The light was impossible, so I'll try to get a photo next time.
April 26, 201015 yr There were a couple of Lustrons around Belmont in Dayton when I grew up there in the 60s. They are cool and retro-futuristic. Really? I'd like to add them to the map.
April 26, 201015 yr There were a couple of Lustrons around Belmont in Dayton when I grew up there in the 60s. They are cool and retro-futuristic. Really? I'd like to add them to the map. Sorry for the false alarm, I may be mistaken. I could have sworn that there were a couple on Patterson Road. I checked the directory and I found just one on Mundale Ave. in Belmont. Maybe I somehow conflated the one on Franklin Street in Centerville with being in Belmont (which obviously it isn't.)
August 22, 201014 yr A couple more that I promised, but didn't get around to posting until now: Beverly Shores, Indiana - in the Indiana Dunes at the southern tip of Lake Michigan. It looks as though the finish has held up well in a location where high winds, especially in winter, carry a lot of sand. Michigan City, Indiana - 222 Carroll Avenue, near the South Shore shops and station.
December 22, 201113 yr Hi all, Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I happened upon a Lustron in a most unexpected place today... I was wandering around the east side of Cleveland, soaking in all the beautiful homes, when I turned on "South Overlook Road" hoping to get a good view of the Cleveland skyline. No dice there, but I did happen upon this: The house is located here: http://g.co/maps/6kdzv To say the least, it doesn't fit the neighborhood. I noticed that a woman living next door was putting away groceries, so I asked her if it was a Lustron. She said it was, and huffed that she couldn't believe that the board allowed the guy to build it there. Apparently, he's allergic to just about anything "except this kind of house". She said he's building it from parts of three other Lustron houses. I was excited to see it, but I would imagine living next door to one that very clearly does not fit the neighborhood would upset too.
December 22, 201113 yr Cool thread. First time I've seen this one. There's actually one of these for sale in Fort Wright, if any Cincinnati-area members are interested: http://www.huff.com/search/detail.php?fm=searchresult&MLNumber=403500&PPropertyType=30&ListingAgentID=&UserID=&frmaction=LuxuryListings&
December 23, 201113 yr i just drove past that lustron house in cle hts the other week, tried to streetview it, and felt crazy when i didn't see it
December 23, 201113 yr The Ohio Historical Society has secured a Lustron that it plans to install in the Ohio History Center as a permanent exhibit.
December 28, 201113 yr More about the upcoming Ohio Historical Society exhibit on the 1950's that will feature an entire Lustron home as its central feature. Below are links to articles from Columbus Underground and the Columbus Dispatch. Also below is a youtube video where the curator of the exhibit explains how the Lustron home will be used. Columbus Underground: Philanthropy Friday: Ohio Historical Society explores the 1950s Columbus Dispatch: Prefab steel home gives peek at ’50s life
December 28, 201113 yr From the above linked article: Lustron timeline 1947 — Lustron Corp. receives a $15.5 million federal loan with backing from President Harry Truman’s administration. Federal loans would eventually total $37 million. 1948 — Lustron President Carl Strandlund establishes a 1-million-square-foot factory in the old Curtiss-Wright airplane plant on E. 5th Avenue. Production is projected to be 100 homes per day. 1948 — Lustron’s prefab model home, with enameled-steel walls and ceilings, is erected at 52nd Street and 6th Avenue in New York City in April; 130,000 people tour the home in a few weeks. 1949 — Although Lustron has about 20,000 orders, production issues and dwindling demand result in only about 2,500 homes being made. A handful remain in the Columbus area. 1950 — Lustron declares bankruptcy; the company’s assets are liquidated in 1951. 1974 — Strandlund, crushed by his failure with “The House America’s Been Waiting For,” dies after spending his last years selling stainless-steel diners. 2008 — A rebuilt Lustron home is erected at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. After three years on display, it is dismantled and shipped to a Virginia warehouse. 2011 — The Ohio Historical Society secures a donation of the Lustron home. Source: Ohio Historical Society http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/12/26/prefab-steel-home-gives-peek-at-50s-life.html
March 21, 20187 yr Lustron was forced out of business by the RIC ( I believe) a government housing group in charge of housing for returning GIs. They wanted to take over the company. Government corruption and greed pure and simple. At the point Lustron ex Carl Strandlund would not knuckle under to them to do this and that for their buddies business, they told him point blank we will force you out within a year. At that point Lustron had two orders come in for 2000 units each. But the smear campaign had begun. Planting doubt in the minds of possible customers, congress and public in general. Within a year RIC had taken control forced Standlund and 3000 employees out and wanted nothing more than to liquidate 30 million dollars worth of work that had been done to the former Curtis airplane factory, after they close Lustron it became North American Rockwell making planes and parts for the B-1 bomber. Now it is a DW show warehouse. The houses stood the test of time. I have visited several here in Columbus (driven by and photoed most but not trespassed) Our government has done so much wasteful spending over the years. It takes millions to start up and years to recoup money for an operation this size, but they gave them only months to pay it back then gave them suicide loans of 1 million dollars to pay back in 6 months just to pay interest debt . The RIC made money hand over fist and the top execs of RIC lined their pockets. When the government hearings started, the company was gone, no one from Lustron went to jail. RIC execs did go to jail. and our Government smoothed it all over as a mistake.
March 30Mar 30 lustron for sale tour in syracuse — https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHtMmhmMwpr/?igsh=dHFscG9zYmVreWpq
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