Although you can’t buy Lustron homes today, they do represent a different way to build a house. Instead of being made of wood and sheetrock, Lustron homes are made of steel that was stamped in a factory, in much the same way that a car’s body parts are stamped. Then the homes were sold as 3,000-part kits for assembly by the homeowner, as described here:
See also this more detailed presentation:
As shown in this video, the exterior of the house does not have siding. Instead there are 2 foot by 2 foot porcelain enameled steel panels, which in theory would last forever. The roof construction was similar, and similarly long-lasting. And the interior walls were made the same way.
See also this video, which mentions that 2,500 Lustrons were shipped before the company went bankrupt. A house weighed 13 tons:
That preserved home eventually made it to the Museum of Modern Art in New York City for an exhibition:
Other House Ideas
- A different way to build a house #24 – The Future of Houses, The House of the Future
- A different way to build a house #25 – The Passive House
- A different way to build a house #26 – John Travolta’s Airplane House
- A different way to build a house #27 – The Sliding House
- A different way to build a house #28 – floating houses
- A different way to build a house #29 – The folding home
- A different way to build a house #30 – Billionaires’ Homes
- A different way to build a house #31 – Concrete House
- A different way to build a house #32 – Capsule Apartments
- A different way to build a house #33 – Prefab Duplex
- A different way to build a house #34 – bridge house
- A different way to build a house #35 – Tiny houses
- A different way to build a house #36 – Zero-energy and Triple-zero-houses
- A different way to build a house #37 – Build a house that is really thin
- A different way to build a house #38 – Foam and steel construction makes a quick, inexpensive, super-efficient house
- A different way to build a house #40 – The capsule
- A different way to build a house #41 – The ultra-secure house
- A different way to build a house #42: Print it
- A Different Way to Build a House #43: Add Secret Passages and Hidden Rooms to your house!
- A different way to build a house #44 – Display your finest car in the living room
- A different way to build a house #45 – Build yourself an Earthship for an ultra-sustainable green lifestyle
- A different way to build a house #46 – How to add an elevator to your home
- A different way to build a house #47 – underground and able to ride out “the apocalypse”
- A different way to build a house #48 – design your own house like an architect
- A different way to build a house #49 – A tiny apartment with moving walls becomes 24 different spaces
- A different way to build a house #50 – Build yourself a Ninja house, or add Ninja features to an existing home
- A different way to build a house #51 – An inexpensive home using recycled wood and natural materials
- A different way to build a house #52 – The flat pack house
- A different way to build a house #53 – inexpensive housing for the developing world
- A different way to build a house #54 – Log homes
- A different way to build a house #55 – Lustron homes – Amazing steel prefabs from 1950
- A different way to build a house #56 – Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion pre-fab house from the 1930s
- A different way to build a house #57 – Using an RV as a home
- A different way to build a house #58 – Virginia Tech’s LumenHaus
- A different way to build a house #59 – Making the most of small apartment spaces
- A different way to build a house #60 – Building custom houses from laser-cut plywood
- A different way to build a house #61 – Building a house for $3,500
- A Different Way To Build a House #62 – Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) construction
- A Different Way To Build a House #63 – An 1,000 square foot 2-bedroom apartment shrunk into 420 square feet
- A different way to build a house #64 – Fitting your whole life in a 90 square foot apartment
- How to build your own automatic Star Trek door for your home
- How to build an underground fallout shelter to ride out the apocalypse
- The $300 House competition
- Free Boat Plans
- How to live in your car