The First Steel Panelized Houses

History

• The first mass-produced, prefabricated steel storage and commercial structures began appearing in the United States during the 1920s. The most recognizable of them were the L. W. Ray-designed White Castle hamburger stands. White, porcelain-enameled steel panels covered the inner and outer walls of these portable units. During the early 1930s, Chicago Vit began promoting porcelain-enameled steel panels as the natural solution for architects wanting to build modern buildings entirely of steel. By the end of World War II, millions of Americans were already familiar with porcelain-enameled home appliances, theater marquees and roofing. In 1946, Chicago Vit designers introduced the first porcelain-enameled steel-panel Lustron home.

Original Model

• Chicago Vit's existing pre-war tooling dictated the design of the original Lustron home, the Hinsdale "Esquire." The Blass and Beckman architectural firm modeled it after single-story bungalows gaining popularity with new homeowners. The two-bedroom, one-bath home measured 31 by 35 feet. It had a living room and kitchen with dinette and utility area. A concrete slab foundation supported its steel framework. A layer of fiberglass insulation separated the interior and exterior walls and the ceiling panels and roof. A furnace distributed radiant heat through the ceiling panels. Other features included built-in bookshelves in the living room, and a built-in china hutch in the dining area. Average construction of a two-bedroom house on a pre-poured foundation eventually fell to two weeks.

Other Features

• Other features included copper plumbing; asphalt tile floors; built-in, wood living room bookshelves; dining area china hutch; hall and bedroom closets; and master bedroom dressing table with drawers, mirror and cupboard. The kitchen had a dishwasher, clothes washer and floor space for a standard-sized refrigerator and stove. The home retailed at $8,000. This was at a time when average annual non-farm family earnings were $3,000, according to the 1946 U.S. Census Bureau director, J.C. Capt.

Best-Selling Model

• By January of 1948, the Lustron Corporation was an independent Chicago Vit subsidiary with a backlog of 6,000 home orders. The expanding company introduced the two- or three-bedroom Westchester home model. Over time, the Westchester's list of options included a carport or matching garage, screened porch or breezeway and patio. Coordinated color schemes paired surf blue, maize yellow, desert tan or dove-gray exterior panels with blue-, yellow- or pink-tiled kitchens and baths. A clothes dryer accompanied the kitchen's combination dishwasher/clotheswasher. The two-bedroom Westchester with the master bedroom vanity and dining area hutch was Lustron Corporation’s best-selling model.

Lustron Bankruptcy

• Fewer than 2,500 of the more than 20,000 Lustron homes ordered were built before the company declared bankruptcy in 1950. An unreliable steel supply, inadequate delivery system, Congressional investigation of the company's federal loans and the high prices of fully equipped models all contributed to the homes' failure.