The residents of Los Alamos County are used to the concept of housing shortages, creative solutions, and making do with what we have. After all, our surroundings boast some of the most incredible views the world has to offer. You can certainly embrace an eclectic house when you’re looking at panoramic views. But you might be interested to know that housing shortages aren’t a new thing here in Los Alamos. As early as the 1940s Los Alamos was looking for solutions to the lack of housing. In 1949 we were eager enough to jump onto a rather unique, quick, mass produced housing bandwagon called Lustron Homes.
Yes. Lustron Homes. The name today (if you’ve never heard it before) has a cult following not unlike the Airstream RV crowd. People are fascinated by the story, the space age style product, and of course, by the same “house of tomorrow” fever that probably has us moving toward a life straight out of “The Jetsons”. Although, this particular house of tomorrow is rather retro.
It all started with the return of GIs after WWII. The economy was recovering. Factories were booming. The middle class was a growing section of the population. And there was nowhere to live.
Enter Carl G. Strandlund. He pitched an idea to the government funded Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) to build prefabricated homes. A $9000 home that could be manufactured in one place and shipped anywhere. These homes would be available in several model styles boasting either two or three bedrooms. They could be assembled by a team of six men using an assembly manual in only a few days!
The RSC granted Strandlund $34 million dollars in loans and set aside a good chunk of steel for his project. Lustron Homes are made of porcelain enameled steel. All of it. Interior, exterior, ceiling, roof, and some models even boasted ivory colored steel venetian blinds! They included bizarre built ins like radiant ceiling heat, a bedroom vanity, china cabinets, and even a clothes washer/dishwasher.
By 1949, Los Alamos jumped on the wagon and 6 of these homes were ordered and constructed on Fairway and 44th Street in the Western Area. The home in the picture above is Dove Gray. Other available colors included Surf Blue, Desert Tan, and Maize Yellow. The homes are made entirely of enameled steel. The company even had to come up with an upbeat decorating guide that included a picture hanging kit. Let’s just say that when decorating your Lustron, magnets are your friends.
Okay. So Lustron Homes never achieved their 100 homes/day goal. Their production line never managed to exceed 27/day. By 1950 they were bankrupt. They’d managed to crank out just under 2500 homes and had defaulted on orders for 8000 more. At the height of their production, the Columbus, OH factory was using more electricity than the rest of the entire city combined. It was a modern factory experiment that completely underestimated the cost of actually shipping these mass produced houses all over the US.
The Lustron Homes story is typically seen as a bit of a failure. The homes had limited decorating options. You can’t even repaint the interior walls. The steel plates are rather susceptible to rust. And it’s not like you can do much in the way of expansion or renovation.
However, 5 of the original 6 Lustron homes are still standing here in Los Alamos. And honestly, for our climate and the reality of living here they’re not such a bad investment. Instead of exterior paint, you just pull out the hose to refresh your look. The roof of a Lustron is totally maintenance free. The desert climate doesn’t exactly promote rusting so our Lustrons don’t have this issue. And on top of other considerations, they’re essentially fireproof.
Besides, they fit perfectly into our Los Alamos landscape. They are a piece of Post World War II history and that is very much a part of the identity of Los Alamos. Many of the Lustrons still standing around the US have been placed on the historic register. Wikipedia has a list of Lustrons HERE. You’ll notice that all of ours are conspicuously absent from that list. Go ahead and have a chuckle. After all, being absent from any list is such a vintage part of life in Los Alamos. There are so many old school examples of building and architecture here in our town. The quads and duplexes. The entire Denver Steel area, Fuller Lodge, Bathtub Row, and countless other examples of American culture frozen in time. Viewed through that lens, it seems rather fitting that we have some Lustron Homes on that list.
I’ll leave you today with a YouTube video courtesy of the Ohio Historical Society. Take a peek and enjoy a look back at what life used to be like. Sometimes as we talk amongst ourselves about spotty Internet service, online school, and work at home, it feels as though a return to a simpler time wouldn’t be so bad.
See you soon! Keep looking for more blog posts featuring local real estate tips and ideas for Living in Los Alamos. And as always, Call or Email Kendra anytime!
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