by Rebecca Binno
A Lustron House was more than a home – it was a concept. A mass-produced porcelain-enameled steel “house of the future” that was entirely made of steel – inside and out. The Lustron Houses were available in muted shades of yellow, gray, aqua or salmon. And we in the Detroit area are lucky to have five intact
examples left standing in Oak Park.
Lustron Houses were not for the wealthy, but for the average working-class family. The brainchild of businessman Carl G. Strandlund, the Lustron House was developed as part of the federal government’s response to the housing shortage after World War II. Because they were prefabricated in Columbus, Ohio, the homes were shipped all over the country, and assembled on site over a concrete slab. About 3,000 were built until the Reconstruction Finance Corp. went under in 1951.
It appears that the Detroit area only got six Lustron Houses. One built in Detroit in 1948 in the Evergreen Village subdivision was the subject of a lawsuit in 1950 that resulted in the home being covered in brick. A deed restriction required that houses in the Evergreen Village subdivision be built of brick, stone or hallow tile. The neighbors didn't want any of that new-fangleed enameled steel in their subdivision. The house and its interesting history were featured in a Detroit News article in 1984.
The Detroit Area Art Deco Society Preservation Committee Chair visited Oak Park’s original Lustron homeowners Mr. and Mrs. Joseph King. The Kings were attracted to an ad in the paper in 1949 that advertised the home for sale with the selling point “Easy Upkeep. No Painting.” Mr. and Mrs. King moved into the pre-built home on January 14, 1950 when there was only a farmhouse down the dirt road, and the five Lustron Homes standing in a row. The rest of Oak Park was yet to be subdivided.
Pulling up to the King’s Lustron House, one would never know that the roof, walls, doors and interior walls are all entirely steel. Upon meeting Mrs. King, she knocked on the wall to prove it: “Porcelain steel, just like your refrigerator.” The Kings still have all their original brochures from when they purchased the
house, and have not made any changes or renovations to the original two-bedroom house. Yet somehow they managed to raise six children in the home. “I’m very proud of my little steel house,” Mrs. King stated.
Lustron Houses were not designed in a high-style moderne fashion–they are basic, simple, bungalow one-story homes. Yet what makes them unique is the use of the modern technology of the day: porcelain enameled steel.
The Lustron Houses of Oak Park have held up over the years. The coloring has not faded, and there are only a few rust spots where car scrapes removed the enameling. Some of the Lustron Houses down the block have added brick facades to the front. One of those is currently for sale, and it is curious to think about what selling points the real estate agents of today tell prospective buyers of a forty-year-old steel house.
Detroit can be considered fortunate to have remaining examples of the nation’s attempt at “modern living.” The selling point of the house turned out to be true– Kings’ only maintenance chore is to wash down the walls once in a while. It makes for a unique way of living. Mrs. King has a little collection of tin boxes and, of course, a wonderful collection of fish-shaped magnets.
