Offbeat Homes

Monday Modular: Luster On Steel - Lustron

by Adam on April 17th, 2007

[pict via Delphos Herald]

Like most good ideas, they’re sparked to fill a need. It was 1946, post WWII, and there was a housing shortage. Lustron was going to help fill that need. An ALL steel prefabricated home. Carl Strandlund was manufacturing porcelain coated steel panels that were used on the fronts of gas stations and fast food restaurants when he realized the technology could be use to build homes.

[pict via The Lustron Connection]

Lustron (luster on steel) were going to be the “New standard of living”. With built in amenities like “dishwashers”, vanities, and a built-in buffet with pass-thought to the kitchen. Some of the innovations made life easier but others just didn’t work. Lustron homes were ALL steel, including the ceiling. The idea was to heat the ceiling and it would heat the rest of the room passively. That didn’t work. Most owners had to add base board heating.

[pict via The Lustron Connection]

Lustron homes were only manufactured for three years, 1947-1950, and produced approximately 2,800-3,000 homes. Originally Strandlund believed he could produce 100 homes a day and sell them for $6,500. The truth of the matter was he could only produce 26 a day and they had to sell them at $11,000. A compareable framed home was selling for $8,000. Another factor could have been the fact the home came in on one truck. That truck carried 30,000 pieces.

Just like anything retro, unique, or kitchen. Lustron homes have gained a following. In 2006 Quantico was offering one of its 60 Lustron homes for free. You had to move it. Another humorous point I noticed reading about these homes, you couldn’t hang any pictures on the walls, but magnets anywhere.

[via Delphos Herald, The Lustron Connection]

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