Lustron Homes May Get Historic Designations
Date Posted: February 23, 2023
Posted In: News,
From Webster-Kirkwood Times: Considered by some a short-lived housing experiment, and by others an important piece of post-war innovation, an increasingly shrinking number of Lustron homes continue to capture the intrigue of many Americans.
In Webster Groves, city officials are currently working to have the community’s remaining Lustron homes designated as historic landmarks in the city. The city once boasted a stock of 21 Lustron homes — more than any city in St. Louis County — but that number has since dwindled to just 13. One of those homes on Ridge Avenue was designated a historic landmark in 1986.
The one-story, roughly 1,000-square-foot Lustron homes were built in the late 1940s entirely of porcelain-enameled steel panels on conveyor belts in a former aircraft plant in Columbus, Ohio. They arrived on a flatbed truck, were assembled on site on concrete slabs and were move-in ready in two to five weeks, all for between $7,000 and $10,000, not including the land and the foundation.
They came in limited floorplan options, boasted built-in metal cabinets and shelves, and pledged to “defy weather, wear and time.” With their glossy, square exteriors in trademark pastel colors, they were planned by entrepreneur Carl Strandlund as the affordable, low-maintenance answer to a housing shortage for millions of soldiers returning from World War II.
Though Strandlund’s company did not withstand the test of time — declaring bankruptcy in 1950 after producing about 2,600 homes — some of those homes are still standing three quarters of a century later in Webster Groves.
Webster Groves’ Historic Preservation Commission originally requested that 12 Lustron properties be designated by the city as historic landmarks. City council members considered the request during a public hearing on Feb. 7.