Thursday, May 7, 2015

1940's House of the Future

Typical Lustron Home
World War II was over. All the GIs were returning home. They wanted jobs, families and HOMES of their own. But there aren't enough houses to fill the need. What America did have was a surplus of steel that had been put aside for the war effort.

 An entrepreneur dreamed of putting these things together and in 1948 they started production of the ceramic-coated steel, pre-fab houses at the Lustron  factory in Columbus, Ohio.

These Plain Dealer  pages from27 June 2004 detail some of the special features and challenges of living in a Lustron Home.


Steel walls make hanging things easy, with
 just a few magnets





















Most of these homes have since been re-sided and have lost the unique rectangular-siding appearance. The company only lasted a couple of years and went bankrupt in 1950.

Medina Gazette 16 Augutst 1949 p. 2

A gentleman involved in the assembly locally said 8 of these homes were built in Medina.
















Only 3 are now known, two of which have been re-sided.
Medina Gazette 8 Nov. 1949





















The Ohio History Connection has been highlighting this little known part of the post war era in their publications and in their exhibits in Columbus.

http://www.ohiohistory.org/visit/exhibits/ohio-history-center-exhibits/1950s-building-the-american-dream

If you are adventurous, travel down West Park Boulevard in Medina and see if you can find any of the Lustron homes there!
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5 comments:

  1. Francis M. StuartMay 7, 2015 at 4:27 PM

    Love your articles. Would you mind if I share some on my Facebook page Back to Spencer - Medina County, Ohio? Reply to fstuart44@frontier.com. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. LisaMay 7, 2015 at 6:14 PM

    Very interesting topic! I had no idea these types of houses existed.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MCDL Genealogy TeamMay 8, 2015 at 11:13 AM

    Thanks for the feedback!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMay 8, 2015 at 3:20 PM

    Fascinated by the original pre-fab homes. I've always been interested in the Sears ones.

    ReplyDelete
  5. MCDL Genealogy TeamMay 8, 2015 at 3:35 PM

    There are a number of the Sears Pre-fab homes in the West Park Boulevard/Oak Street neighborhood, according to people who have lived there a long time.

    ReplyDelete