Lustron houses are prefabricated enameled steel houses developed in the post-World War II era United States in response to the shortage of homes for returning G.I.s by Chicago industrialist and inventor Carl Strandlund. Considered low-maintenance and extremely durable, they were expected to attract modern families who might not have the time or interest in repairing and painting conventional wood and plaster houses. Lustron production ceased in 1950 due to the company's inability to pay back the startup loans it had received from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. Over 2,000 homes were constructed during the Lustron's brief production period, and many remain in use today. Several have been added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Winslow Ames House is a prefabricated modular International Style house in New London, Connecticut, United States. It was designed by Robert W. McLaughlin Jr. and was built in 1933. Winslow Ames, a professor of art history at Connecticut College and the art director of the Lyman Allyn Museum, had the home built after attending the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago. Constructed for $7,500, the prefabricated house is one of two surviving Motohomes produced by McLaughlin's company American Houses Inc. The modular house, comprising three rectangles and a flat roof, was constructed on a concrete slab with a welded steel framework. It was made with asbestos panels and features a core component that provides the heating and plumbing functions for the house. The other two modules feature two bedrooms and a one-car garage.
The Lustron Houses of Jermain Street Historic District is located along that street in Albany, New York, United States. It consists of five prefabricated homes built by the Lustron Corporation after World War II. It was recognized as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
The Bishop Family Lustron House is a historic Lustron house located at 26 Slater Drive in Glenville, Schenectady County, New York.
The J. P. McKee Lustron House is a historic enameled steel prefabricated house in Jackson, Alabama. Designed and constructed by the Lustron Corporation, this example is one of two in Jackson. The other, the Doit W. McClellan Lustron House, is just around the corner from the McKee Lustron.
The Doit W. McClellan Lustron House is a historic enameled steel prefabricated house in Jackson, Alabama. Designed and constructed by the Lustron Corporation, this example is one of two in Jackson. The other, the J. P. McKee Lustron House, is just around the corner from the McClellan Lustron.
The John D. and Katherine Gleissner Lustron House is a historic enameled steel prefabricated house in Birmingham, Alabama. Designed and constructed by the Lustron Corporation, this example is one of three confirmed to have been built in Birmingham. Another, the Bernice L. Wright Lustron House, is just one house over from the Gleissner Lustron House.
The Bernice L. Wright Lustron House is a historic enameled steel prefabricated house in Birmingham, Alabama. Designed and constructed by the Lustron Corporation, this example is one of three confirmed to have been built in Birmingham. Another, the John D. and Katherine Gleissner Lustron House, is just one house over from the Wright Lustron House.
The Lustron Home No. 02102 is an historic enameled steel prefabricated Lustron house located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
Justin Matthews (1876–1955) was an Arkansas road and bridge builder and real estate developer. He helped to design and expand many areas in central Arkansas.
Bruce A. and June L. Elmore Lustron House is a historic home located at Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina. It was built in 1949, and is a one-story, side-gable-roof Westchester Deluxe two- bedroom-model Lustron house. It is sheathed in dove grey and green enamel-finish steel panels. An addition was made to the house about 1985.
The Josephine Reifsnyder Lustron House in Stillwater, Oklahoma is a historic prefabricated home. One of several Lustron houses built in Oklahoma during the post World War II housing shortage, this house is a well-preserved two-bedroom Lustron Westchester model with a detached Lustron garage.
The William Bowen Lustron House is a historic residence in Florence, Alabama. The Lustron house was purchased by William Bowen in 1949. The prefabricated, metal frame house is one of the company's two-bedroom Westchester Deluxe models. The metal side-gable roof is painted brown to mimic ceramic tile. The house is clad with blue porcelain enamel panels with white window surrounds. The left window on the façade is a bay window that projects slightly from the house, differentiating the Deluxe model from the Standard. The southeast corner is recessed, forming an entry porch. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
The E. H. Darby Lustron House is a historic residence in Florence, Alabama. The house was built in 1949 by Elton H. Darby, one of the co-owners of Southern Sash, the Lustron house dealer in The Shoals. It is one of five remaining Lustron houses in the Shoals area and one of three in Florence. The prefabricated house has a side-gable roof covered with metal shingles. One corner of the house is recessed to form an entry porch. The house is clad in square porcelain enamel panels painted grey. The house is Lustron's two-bedroom Westchester Deluxe model, which features a shallow bay window in the living room. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
The Buhler House is a historic house at 1820 Fair Park Boulevard in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is a 2+1⁄2-story structure, its exterior clad in brick, set on a field stone foundation. Stylistically it is in the English Revival, with a tile roof and trim elements of concrete. The house's most distinctive feature is its internal frame, which is constructed entirely out of steel beams. Its exterior and interior door frames are also steel, as is the front door, which has been processed to resemble walnut. It was built in 1930-31 by Henry Buhler, owner of a local real estate development firm. No other residential structure in the state has been documented to have this type of construction.
The Hot Springs Federal Courthouse is located at 100 Reserve Street in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It is a three-story building, with a steel frame clad in orange brick, with porcelain panels and aluminum-clad windows. It was designed by the Little Rock firm Wittenberg, Delony & Davidson, and was built in 1959–60 on the site of the Eastman Hotel, once one of the city's largest spa hotels. It is one of the city's best examples of commercial International architecture.
The Matthews-Bradshaw House is a historic house at 524 Skyline Drive in North Little Rock, Arkansas. It is a single-story masonry structure, its exterior clad in brick and stone. A conical turreted section with diamond-pane windows projects from one corner, and the gable above the main entrance is finished in half-timbered stucco. Built in 1929 by the Justin Matthews Company as part of its Park Hill development, it is the only example Matthews built of the French Eclectic style. It was designed by Frank Carmean, the Matthews Company architect.
Roy and Iris Corbin Lustron House, also known as the Corbin-Featherstone House, is a historic home located at Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana. It was built in 1949, and is a one-story, side gabled Lustron house. It is constructed of steel and is sided and roofed with porcelain enameled steel panels. It sits on a poured concrete pad and measures 1,085 square feet. A garage was added to the house in the 1950s. It is one of about 30 Lustron houses built in Marion County.
The Glenn and Nell Kurtz Lustron Home and Garage, also known as the Westchester 02 Deluxe model and #01237, is a historic building located in Iowa Falls, Iowa, United States. Glenn Kurtz owned and operated the Cigar and News Store downtown, and became the Lustron dealer for Hardin, Hamilton, Franklin, and Grundy counties. He and his wife Nell bought this property in the Washington Heights Addition in 1944, and they had their own prefabricated Lustron house and detached garage assembled on it five years later. The single-story, two bedroom house features its original light yellow porcelain steel wall panels, brown steel shingled roof, off-white gables and trim, metal entrance doors, and windows. The matching 1½-car garage sits behind the house, and is approached by a driveway off of Michigan Avenue. The house and garage were listed together on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. There are four other Lustron houses in addition to this one that are associated with Kurtz's representation of the company in his four county area.
The Sample—Lindblaum House, also spelled Sample—Lindblom House and alternatively known as the Odile Babb House, is a historic house in Wakonda, South Dakota. It is the only Lustron home in Wakonda. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
