PreFab - Part 1 (then)

When I was a child, growing up in Memphis, my Great Grandparents lived in a Lustron home on Barfield Lane. My Mother told me how, as a child herself, she remembered the day that the truck showed up to deliver the parts.

Lustron homes were the brainchild of Carl Strandlunds, a WWII contractor who saw an opportunity to build low-cost, low maintenance homes for the returning GI at the end of the war. The homes were built entirely of steel, and prefabricated in a converted automobile factory. They were sold on the merits of their practicality and durability. The square steel siding panels were baked porcelain enamel coated, and never needed painting. The house can be cleaned with a water-hose. Many of the surviving Lustron homes remain in remarkably good condition to this day.

Though the enterprise was an initial success, the production of the homes came to an abrupt stop after only a couple thousand had been made. In the late 90s, a documentary, Lustron, The House America’s Been Waiting For, was produced. It tells a tale of political intrigue and how the Lustron company was shut down by the politic-ing of Carl Strandlund’s detractors. The documentary can be purchased on DVD from KDN films.

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EDIT: Get your FREE Lustron Home, Now! No, this is not a joke. Quantico Marine Corps base is offering 58 of them- free, to anyone willing to dissassemble them and take them away. You have until March 1, 2007 to submit an RFP. Go here now.

Comments

[jailnurse]

I rented a Lustron house about 10 years ago. I had never heard of them. The price and size were right at the time for me. I loved the storage and vanity in my bedroom. That house freaked all my friends out. The whole house was a conversation piece. I had no idea of it's history at that time. I had a friend who was a refridgerator magnet fanatic. This was her dream house as she could stick magnets EVERYWHERE!