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 Armco-Ferro House, in the Century of Progress Architectural District in Beverly Shores, Indiana, was originally constructed for the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago. "The ... Exposition opened in May of 1933 directed by the theme of science and its role in industrial advancement. Within the Home and Industrial Arts Group were model houses, which featured modern materials, building methods and innovative home appliances, including the Armco-Ferro-Mayflower, Wieboldt-Rostone and Florida Tropical houses, and the House of Tomorrow. All utilized new techniques of design, construction and prefabrication in an attempt to bring the out-of-date housing industry in line with more efficient manufacturing practices such as those used by the auto industry." The Home and Industrial Arts Group was the most successful venue of the Exposition. The Armco-Ferro House was designed by Robert Smith, Jr., of Cleveland, Ohio. It is the only remaining example from the exposition that met the Fair Committee's design criteria; a house that could be mass-produced and was affordable for an American family of modest means..
From research completed by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS): The Ferro Enamel Corporation, one of the two major sponsors for the ... house, was formed in 1930 by a merger between the Ferro Enameling Company and the Ferro Enamel and Supply Co. The idea of using porcelain enamel for residential construction was introduced by Bob Weaver, president of the newly formed company. Shortly after the merger, Charles Bacon Rowley, architect, designed a four-person house with Ferro-Enamel shingles that the company erected in Cleveland, Ohio, in July 1932.31 Despite the innovative use of ferroenamel as a cladding material, the house was built using conventional wood construction. The first porcelain-enameled frameless steel house was completed ... in South Euclid, Ohio ... Like the Armco-Ferro house, this house was designed by Robert Smith, Jr., and was built by Insulated Steel Corporation; ... In 1932, the American Rolling Mill Company (Armco) ... built a second porcelainenameled frameless steel house ... using Robert Smith, Jr. as architect. The Ferro Enamel Corporation and the Insulated Steel Construction Company collaborated with Armco, thus setting the stage for the partnership that made the Century of Progress home possible.
The Milton Odem House is a small bungalow home located in Redmond, Oregon. The house was built in 1937 by Ole K. Olson for Milton Odem, a local theater owner. It is one of the best examples of residential Streamline Moderne architecture in Oregon. The Milton Odem House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
The Harriet Phillips Bungalow is located on NY 23B on the western edge of Claverack, New York, United States. It is a stucco-sided frame building dating from the 1920s.
The Oscar Blomeen House is a historic house located in Auburn, Washington. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
The Patterson House in Larned, Kansas is a three-bedroom Lustron house built in 1949. Together with its matching Lustron garage, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
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 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.
Jackson Park Town Site Addition Brick Row is a group of three historic houses and two frame garages located on the west side of the 300 block of South Third Street in Lander, Wyoming. Two of the homes were built in 1917, and the third in 1919. The properties were added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 27, 2003.
Lenhart Farmhouse is a historic farmhouse in Root Township, Adams County, Indiana. It was built about 1848, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
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.
Windway is an historic residential property located north of Kohler, Wisconsin. It was built in 1937–1938 by Walter J. Kohler, Jr., future governor of Wisconsin and an executive of the Kohler Company.
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 Everel S. Smith House is located on the northeast corner of West Jefferson Street and Clyborn Avenue in Westville, Indiana and is set well back from the streets it fronts. The yard is landscaped with four large maples and one medium size tulip tree equally spaced along the road. There is an enclosed garden with patio on the west side beginning at the back of the bay and extending north and west. The house faces south and is of two story, red brick construction with ivory painted wood trim. Its design is Italianate with a single story wing on the north (rear) side. There is a hip roof on the main section capped by a widow's walk with a wrought iron fence around its perimeter. A gable is centered on a short extension of the center, front wall which has a limestone block with beveled corners set in its center above the second story windows that is inscribed with the date 1879. There is a black, cast, spread eagle below the inscribed stone.
The Horner House is a historic house at 2 Merrivale Street in Beverly Shores, Indiana. It is an excellent example of the mid-twentieth century architectural movement known as the International Style, interpreted by architects like Marcel Breuer, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius and Philip Johnson for buildings constructed in America following World War II. It is the work of a master artist of the second generation to be influenced by this school, the Swiss architect and designer, Otto Kolb.
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 Robert C. and Bettie J. (Sponseller) Metcalf House is a single-family home located at 1052 Arlington Boulevard in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
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.
