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Lustron, The All Steel House
We (two kids, two adults, and a dog) live in this Lustron in Madison WI, and I love it! It is small and has no basement, but the floor plan uses space very efficiently, and it has practically non existent overall maintenance cost (the roof is 70+ years old and is totally fine). They certainly are functioning dwelling machines:) But its not all about function, its also a beautiful machine. Maybe not the most exciting aesthetically, but I find its history and quirkiness endearing.
Yes, build the walls of a house from thermal conductors, way to go! I would say that's far from ingenious in US areas of heat in the summer and severe cold during the winter.
Here's a video I did a few years ago in Minneapolis. Lustron owner Buck Holzemer gives us a tour of his house and talks about the pros, cons, and rehab of these unusual homes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTLDUyEP_LY
I think a lot of these got used as base housing, Quantico sold off a ton of them just a few years ago.
Cleaned and repainted one of these in Spencer, Iowa. It is a cool concept, but the act of living in it seems undesirable. Thin walls give no privacy, short ceilings, single-pane glass windows. On the plus side, magnets everywhere!
There is one of these on Jefferson Street in Vermilion, Ohio. You can see it on Google Street View. My grandfather worked in the factory that made these things.
a friend used to own one of these on a canal on the east side of Detroit, very neat places
Darn is that an ugly home. Cool concept though.
We lived in the home that was the model in Minnesota. There are still about 8 or 10 in Minneapolis. What a clever idea. It had its issues; the heaters were not up to MN winters and a retrofit of forced air was made to ours before we bought it, it was not well done. The walls were great for hanging kids art, like a home sized refrigerator art gallery. The houses were so small by Midwest standards, we had to size up. The design was pure Post-war Modern, we really enjoyed it. We learned a lot about the history, Strandlund faced some complicated political issues as well. There is a good book out there for those interested. Thanks for the nice story!
Very cool. Apparently, a few of them are museums, and if you're in Columbus, OH, you can visit one. There's a video on YouTube about it. Would love a maintenance-free home.