Jackson's Steel Lustron House - Brilliant 1950s Housing Concept

Background

A Lustron House was a post-war innovation to make affordable and durable houses for growing families. Many could buy their first home via the GI bill. From 1947 to 1950, the Lustron company, from Columbus, Ohio, represented the future of housing. Based on a steel frame and porcelain enamel-covered steel panels, Lustron made these homes in a factory and shipped them around the country. 

These modest houses were termite-proof, highly fire-resistant, and low maintenance on the exterior. They were complete with appliances and plumbing. Many mid-century gasoline stations used similar enameled steels exterior panels, which require no repainting and were clean and colorfast for decades. 

Jackson, Mississippi

Jackson has at least one steel Lustron House at 144 W. McDowell Road. 

Lustron House, 144 W. McDowell Road, Jackson, Mississippi

Preservation in Mississippi wrote about the McDowell Road Lustron house in 2010. Shortly after the article came out, I drove to McDowell Road to see the house. A neighbor said it had been unoccupied for two months. 

Note raised slab foundation and gutter channeled down decorative overhang support

Original front door matched exterior tile color; ugly add-on burglar bar outer door

Contrasting steel window trim and steel roof tiles

Handsome bay window marred by ugly burglar bars and nasty awning

I am awed by how well this house had survived the years. When I photographed it, it was at least 60 years old. The siding tiles are immaculate. Considering the neighborhood where it is located, I doubt the  occupants did much maintenance or washing. The nearby conventional houses looked pretty rough in 2010. The April 2022 Google Maps photograph showed trash and filth strewn on the yard. 

1948 publicity photograph (from Flickr). Note modern fluorescent lights and linoleum floor

Albany, New York

My friend in Albany took the following photographs of the charming block of Lustron Houses on Jermain Street Historical District. They are on the National Register of Historic Places. A Wikipedia article describes their history. The first one below has been re-sided, but the others have their original enameled steel panels. Seventy years later and they are still shiny and bright. Astonishing.

Closing Thoughts

It is a pity that this experiment in steel housing did not thrive. A Flickr page shows Lustron houses from around the country. I do not know how many are standing.

The Wikipedia article notes:

The Lustron design was created to adapt it to mass production. A steel framing system was devised consisting of vertical steel studs and roof-ceiling trusses to which all interior and exterior panels were attached. The concept of prefabricated housing was well established by firms such as The Aladdin Company, Gordon-Van Tine Company, Montgomery Ward, and Sears in the early 1900s. These companies, however, used conventional balloon-framing techniques and materials in their kits. After World War II, the domestic demand for steel exceeded production and the federal government exercised control over its allocation. Strandlund had orders for his porcelain-enameled panels for use in construction for new gas stations for Standard Oil. He made a request for allocation of steel but was denied. However, he was advised by Wilson W. Wyatt, Housing Expediter during the Truman administration, that steel would be available if Strandlund produced steel houses instead of gas stations.

I would not be at all surprised if conventional builders lobbied municipalities to enact restrictive building codes or other impediments to these innovative housing concepts. And now we have houses built on site from bulk lumber and supplies by workers of varying skills and with huge waste in material. Just look at the scrap lumber, sheet-rock, and debris at any McMansion construction site. The craftsmanship of many new houses is severely lacking; bling without substance. Caulk covers up a myriad of poorly cut panels and timber. Is it time to reconsider a concept like the Lustron Houses?

UPDATE March 2024:  Ted Shideler photographed Lustron Houses in Muncie, Indiana. He included pictures of the interiors and references in his article. Ted also wrote about the Lustrons of Richmond, Indiana.

Ohio Magazine described the Rise and Fall of Lustrons.

An academic article on Lustron houses is "A New Standard for Living": The Lustron House, 1946-1950 by Tom Wolfe and Leonard Garfield, Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture, Vol. 3 (1989), pp. 51-61 (11 pages)

Update June 2025:  The Lustron Corporation gave $10,000 to the infamous Joseph McCarthy to prepare a pamphlet. McCarthy was not honest about the source of the funds or their purpose. This contributed to his censure by the US Senate.

https://www.nytimes.com/1952/05/14/archives/mcarthy-set-fee-on-housing-article-former-lustron-president-tells.html