Are Steel Houses Thoroughly Good

In June of 1947, Architectural Forum selected a distinctive cover star: The Lustron. This innovative home was constructed with a steel frame, steel panels, and a steel roof, and many of these homes still exist today. The Lustron represented a new concept in post-World War II American housing, as it was a factory-made home that could be shipped across the country with an accompanying instruction manual for each individual component. The exterior and interior of the home were both constructed entirely of steel. From 1947 to 1950, Lustron produced numerous homes, but just three years after the cover shot, the future of housing became a mere footnote. The failure of the Lustron home is not simply an anomaly in the realm of home building, but rather a tale of post-war optimism, technological limitations, and a testing ground for the collaboration between government and private industry.

In the year 1940, a customary dwelling would have been constructed with a wooden framework and walls made of wood and plaster. Presently, this remains a prevalent choice for many households. However, when one opts for a steel framework and steel panels, the outcome can be rather peculiar. The majority of panels utilized in a Lustron residence are coated with porcelain enamel and made of steel. As the house began to be treated more like an automobile than a traditional dwelling, the results were favorable.

The surface finish on one side of the house differs from that on the other, and the same can be said for certain other areas of the property. This is an example of a durable feature that has withstood the test of time, while others have a tendency to become worn and shabby. Consider, for instance, a steel panel that has been coated with porcelain enamel, a remarkably resilient and smooth surface that was produced by melting glass and fusing it to the steel in a factory setting. This type of finish was utilized in Lustron homes and could be tinted in a variety of colors, including maize yellow, surf blue, desert tan, and dove gray. Despite its resemblance to Spanish tile, the roof of these homes was also made of porcelain enameled steel.

The dwelling featured a ceiling-mounted radiant heating system, which was installed by Lustron Corporation. The company also provided printed instructions and plumbing services for the property. The house spans approximately one thousand square feet, which is considered small by contemporary standards. However, it is worth noting that most homes constructed in the burgeoning suburbs of the 1950s and 1960s were typically of a modest size, with only one bathroom. This particular property is the Westchester 2 bedroom plan, although other configurations were also available. In 1948, when Life Magazine published a pre-production Lustron advertisement, thousands of individuals clipped the coupon located in the lower right corner to obtain a complimentary booklet.

What was the reason behind the significance of this particular house for America, and what factors contributed to its failure? In 1947, the Lustron house was strategically positioned amidst two major societal developments. Following World War II, a vast number of returning soldiers were in dire need of housing, owing to the Great Depression and the limitations on construction during the war. In 1946, the Congress declared housing to be a national emergency. This coincided with funding trends, as private venture capital did not become mainstream until the late 1940s and 1950s. However, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, a post-Depression agency, was established to provide funding for depressed sectors of the economy. The RFC had already experimented with financing unconventional prefabricated home concepts.

Subsequently, a further edifice was erected, designed by the inventor and constructor Carl Strandlund, who had previously employed porcelain enamel in the construction of buildings such as gas stations and restaurants. Recognizing an opportunity in the timeline, Strandlund secured a loan of $12,500,000 in 1947 to establish the Lustron factory in Columbus, Ohio, which presently serves as a warehouse for designer shoes. The advertisement featuring a coupon was published in Life magazine, garnering significant attention from Popular Mechanics, which praised the use of porcelain skin in the protection of prefabricated structures.

However, by 1948, the Lustron home, which had captured the attention of the American public, encountered a series of obstacles. The most conspicuous hindrance was the weight of the steel, which amounted to 12 tons for each home. This weight posed a challenge for the transportation of Lustron homes beyond the Rocky Mountains. Nevertheless, custom trailers were utilized to facilitate the movement of the steel. Additionally, Lustron homes received a significant portion of the government's allocation of steel for prefabricated homes. Despite these advantages, Time Magazine raised a pertinent question in 1948: did people truly desire to reside in steel houses, particularly those with inflexible floor plans that were difficult to modify? Furthermore, the Lustron factory's meticulous control over every aspect of production resulted in price hikes and delays. The factory manufactured nearly every component of the house, including a costly press for making bathtubs. However, the bathtub produced was 5 feet and a half inch long, which was not the standard size. Consequently, Lustron could neither purchase their own bathtubs nor sell them to others, rendering this half-inch mistake an expensive one that never paid off. These factors not only increased the prices of Lustron homes but also made them non-standard.

In January of 1949, Carl Strandlund was featured in Life Magazine promoting his steel home as a revolutionary concept. However, the prices of these homes had escalated to $10,000, which was significantly higher than the initial ambition and a considerable amount for returning GIs. Furthermore, these homes were not competitive with other newly constructed homes that were larger and more traditional. The prices of these homes also varied depending on the location, as evidenced by the costs in Indiana, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. The localization of the project presented additional challenges, as some local codes prohibited the construction of steel homes, such as in Chicago. Although mass developments, such as the one in Quantico, Virginia, were part of the plan, they were ultimately rare. Additionally, Lustron's funding became a hindrance, as further funding requests increased to between $35 million and $40 million.

Lustron expeditiously garnered media attention due to its inability to meet targets and its reliance on government funding. By May of 1949, the credibility of the 1947 cover model was called into question. The emergence of scandals, such as Senator Joseph McCarthy's paid-for advertorial, further exacerbated the situation. However, the most significant obstacle was the intense scrutiny of the company's performance by the public.

In 1950, Lustron's funding was recalled, resulting in the company's declaration of bankruptcy. During a span of two years, the company failed to sell more than 300 homes per month. The Whitehall Historical Society's headquarters, which was relocated to the site of a former volleyball court in 2003, is situated approximately 2.1 miles or 3.37 kilometers away from the Designer Shoe Warehouse Warehouse. The headquarters is divided into two halves, with one half serving as a residence and the other half serving as a meeting and exhibition space. The garage is equipped with a restroom and a kitchen, while the front half of the building is utilized as a workshop and storage area. The house, which was located in London, Ohio, was listed for sale on eBay. The owner of the house approached the society and generously donated it to them. A manual was included with the house, which was used for both assembling and disassembling it. Although Lustron had delivered 2,600 homes across the country, they fell short of their aspirations and ultimately failed. Nevertheless, their legacy endures.