"The House that America Has Been Waiting For"

By Mark Phoenix posted June 4, 2021

I am wondering if you have heard of a “Lustron” house that once was considered to be a “futuristic” housing design.  I suspect many have not.  These homes were invented by a man named Carl Strandlund and were advertised as “…The House that America Has Been Waiting For”. 

Lustron houses are prefabricated houses with enameled steel both on the inside and exterior.  The idea came to Mr. Strandlund after his experience with designing prefabricated gasoline stations. 

The very design was low maintenance and a resilient housing option to help meet the demand for housing for returning war veterans after World War II. 

According to Lustron advertising of the era, the house design and steel construction promoted the idea of a “…richer living experience for the entire family.”.  For example, “Mother…has far more hours (in the day, presumably for leisure), “Youngsters…have fewer worries” (fewer chores, perhaps?) and “…far more leisure for Dad”.  

The houses had a price tag between $8,500.00 and $9,500.00 in an advertisement I found online dated March 1949.  They measured between 713 square feet and 1140 square feet with four models from which to choose, and they were often built on a concrete slab (to accommodate the radiant heat embedded in the concrete floor), with some having a full basement.  The exterior colors were limited to “Maize Yellow”, “Desert Tan”, “Dove Gray” and “Surf Blue”. 

I listed a Lustron home for sale in the 1990’s on Randall Road in Niskayuna, New York.  The exterior had square steel panels that were “Desert Tan”.  Inside the home, there was carpeting on the floor that covered, what I might describe as commercial grade 6 X 6 floor tiles, that you might expect to see in a school or commercial building. 

To save space and take advantage of efficiency, the home featured pocket doors and built-in steel dresser drawers.  The walls and ceilings were also steel squares.  The roof consisted of porcelain enameled steel tiles.  Some might describe the design and floor plan as “utilitarian”. 

The Lustron corporation declared bankruptcy in 1950 citing production delays and lack of a viable system to distribute the product.  Also, local municipal building codes often prohibited houses built from steel.  So, the company had a tough time from more than one point of view.

Of the nearly 2500 Lustron homes built in the United States, there are fewer than 2000 Lustron homes still in existence in the United States.  I would venture a guess that many of those which remain in existence have been modified and added on to over the years to meet the needs and requirements of life today. 

Do you know someone who owned a Lustron home?  If you do, you might ask them what it is like living in a “house of the future”.