Lustron Houses

Mark J Strawcutter

Lustron houses were prefab out of porcelain enameled steel panels. Company started after WWII to help solve postwar housing shortage.

Only 2500 ever made - two of which are in Indiana PA where I live. One has been "remuddled" with vinyl siding. The other, now up for sale, is mint as the day it was built. Complete with original appliances (but sadly, missing the combination clothes washer/dishwasher - no kidding!).

Radiant ceiling heat by blowing hot air into a cavity between the visible ceiling and another about a foot above.

www.lustron.org for those interested.

Mark

Lew

Lustron

Hey Mark,

Did Jimmy Stewart didn't happen to live in a Lustron?

BTW, I went to IUP in the 70's. About the only thing I remember was that humongous pile of coal near the cafeteria!

Jim Bennett

Who knew...

I had never heard of this before reading your post. I learn something new here everyday!

Thanks,

Jim

Mark J Strawcutter

Jimmy Stewart

No, he lived in some pretty fancy digs up on "vinegar hill"

I'm a '76 grad of IUP. They've since built a natural gas fired co-generation plant between the dining hall and the old power plant. The coal pile has been replaced with a 200 (400?) ton absorption chiller running off steam from the co-gen.

Mark

Mark J Strawcutter

roof

even the roof "shingles" - actually more like tiles - are porcelain enameled steel. The two here have original roofs, now 50+ years old, that look like they day they were built.

Mark

John Mills_3

We have one

in our area. That poor furnace short cycled so bad on limit it wasn't funny. But with 100+ return air it will. No way to cool it. We proposed installing a duct system to get the heat bills down and add cooling but it wasn't cheap.

Dave DeFord

Saw a PBS special on these..

a couple of months ago. Interesting houses with some concepts that were way ahead of their time. Todays prefab folks could likely learn a thing or two from them. Never seen one but they sound neat.