Lustron Homes

[Lily left the valley]

Quite young for some folks' taste, but still a classic.

This one is for sale in NC. I'm fairly sure some of the windows have been replaced.

[heartwood]

indeed a classic lily! I think it just needs a bit more of a 'lived in' look...
hard to tell in the photos if the windows are original...often the give away
is two locks on the meeting rail...these windows have two locks...
.....jade

[1918ColonialRevival]

There's almost nothing original on that house except the enameled panels on the exterior and it wouldn't surprise me if close inspection revealed they've had paint brushed over them. The windows are vinyl replacements.

Original Lustron houses should look like the ones seen here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Lustron_houses

I used to know a guy who lived in an all original 1948 Lustron.

[Lily left the valley]

1918ColonialRevival, I'm confused. Are you saying only the exterior has no original details? I did say the windows were dubious (and the RE ad does indicate the change as well.) If the exterior is "desert tan", that's one of the colors that at least the Ohio Historic Preservation Office recognizes. (They list: “Surf Blue,” “Blue-green,” “Dove Gray,” “Maize Yellow,” “Desert Tan,” Green, Pink, and White)

--General note for the pictures below. Any with the TMLS on it is from the listing for the home I linked to in my OP.
The interior certainly still has many of the original built ins, that match the catalog images even. Also, compared to other Lustron homes, an awful lot looks the same as well.

Dining/divider:




Living Room:



Kitchen:





Bedroom:




Bath:




Hall:

[Neighmond]

I see lots of old original material there!

[JacquieJet]

I've never heard of these homes before! Certainly quite neat. Love all the photos! Thanks for sharing!!

[phil]

It was a great idea. Maybe the prices weren't that good by comparison or there would have been many more. I haven't seen any in Canada but we had Linwood and Pan-abode systems that were likely our counterparts. both still survive. My family has a pan abode one, it has cedar walls, beams, ceiling, lots of wood. they are very nice especially for cabins and so lots of forestry buildings and such were built by them. we also have a linwood cabin, both have been heavily insulated so only the wood on the inside shows now.

I worked for a builder here that had a huge factory producing Viceroy modular homes. I only stayed a year as in my opinion they had some serious money and management issues. At one point we packed up all the window manufacturing equipment and they tried to send it back east but the semi crashed. As far as vinyl windows go they were pretty good quality ones actually.. I think they made some very nice homes with old house features but they were high end homes and probably a lot more costly than building on site.

I dont' think we ave seen the last of the modular home idea. It makes a lot of sense, especially in areas where it is difficult or expensive to bring in all the trades to do separate functions due to location or where construction needs to happen really quickly. As an example many homes were built after the tsunami and nuclear reactor issues in japan. They built thousands of temporary housing structures. I guess that compares to the lustron ones being built after the war.

[1918ColonialRevival]

1918ColonialRevival, I'm confused. Are you saying only the exterior has no original details? I did say the windows were dubious (and the RE ad does indicate the change as well.) If the exterior is "desert tan", that's one of the colors that at least the Ohio Historic Preservation Office recognizes. (They list: “Surf Blue,” “Blue-green,” “Dove Gray,” “Maize Yellow,” “Desert Tan,” Green, Pink, and White)

I meant to say the exterior, but after looking at it on another monitor, the enameled panels may have their original finish. They looked darker brown on the other monitor. Windows are definitely vinyl, though. The windows should be metal and should be the larger picture style windows with a casement on each end.

Inside it looks like many of the original built-ins and the ceiling panels are still there, which is a good thing. That living room floor is distracting, though!

[Al F. Furnituremaker]

There are at least 3 (that I know of) Lustron homes in my town. At least two of them are original on the outside. The other has some mods on the outside, but all still have the original panel colors.

I didn't know that they used the panels on the inside also.

My dad's service station had the porcelain panels on the outside. I remember when they put them on.

[phil]

probably lots have additions. I'm not sure how functional that bed would be for a couple!