Lustron Update from Quantico
The Lustron Homes are now available! Deadline April 12th.
All the information is available at the Lustrons At Quantico website. The Request for Proposals is available in PDF format on the site.

RPPN has started its own Lustron Action Committee on Yahoo!Groups to help the public negotiate the process of acquiring and moving the homes. If you are interested in this effort, you can join the discussion at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lustronAC/

If you are anxious to get your own Lustron or already own one, join the general Lustron discussion board at Yahoo!Groups. In any month there are usually one or two of these buildings available, either on-site or in "must-move" condition.

If you are interested in the history of Lustron homes and their inventor Carl Strandlund, check out the award-winning film Lustron: The House America's Been Waiting For, a co-production of KDN Videoworks & WOSU.TV (Ohio State University). The film will be distributed to PBS television stations November 23 or you can catch it this month at several film festivals including Detroit, Milwaukee, Fort Lauderdale and Schenectady. More information and copies of the video are available at www.lustron.org. Also check out this extensive site sponsored by WOSU.TV.

RPPN is actively working with Quantico to find solutions to this preservation problem. We are interested in helping people with multiple chemical sensitivities or environmental illnesses acquire the all-metal Lustron homes for adaptation to allergen-free residences. Please contact RPPN at submit@recentpast.org if you have information or questions. Link here for Quantico contact information.

Lustron Home Road Tour...Check out this great website with interactive map showing the general location of every documented Lustron home in America! Add yours to the list now!

See the piece-by-piece disassembly of a Lustron home! "Carousel restorer and former Roadside Magazine Managing Editor, Susan Germain recently saved a rare Lustron Home from demolition. Knowing an American artifact when she sees one, Susan was determined not to let yet another historic building go to landfill. She called her friend Colin Strayer, who has experience dismantling metal buildings to assist her on this quest." See the slide show at By The Way Magazine online.

Lombard, Illinois. Claims to have the most Lustrons of any town in the U.S. See photographs of thirty-five examples here.

"Living in a Lunchbox" Lustron Luxury Personal website detailing a 2 bedroom yellow & white Westchester in Lombard IL. Model 2, #01576 in Lombard, IL. Includes cool 3-D modeling photographs.

Kansas: LUSTRON HOUSE (LEONARD V. AND LELA SANTORO RESIDENCE), circa 1948 7218 State Avenue Morris H. Beckman, Architect, for the Lustron Corporation K.C.K. Historic Landmark: May 28, 1998

North Dakota: Relocation of a Lustron House GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA April 1997 Flood-FEMA 1174-DR-ND FEMA. Document and video of deconstruction of this house, which is currently in storage awaiting reconstruction. RPPN has copies of the video and document available for loan to interested parties.

Wisconsin: For some, Lustron homes have never lost their luster, by By MICHELE DERUS mderus@journalsentinel.com, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

History of Lustron Homes, sponsored by the Old House web. Good overview complete with photographs and images of old advertisements.

Lustron Photos. An extensive site run by Michael O'Neal, including advertisements, an array of photographs of the buildings and the founder Carl Strandlund. See original brochure as well as an article from Architectural Forum, May 1949: "The factory-built house is here, but not the answer to the $33 million question: How to get it to market?"

Roberson Trans. "In 1946, a new truck line was started by Roy Roberson and Stanley Albert (Pre-Fab Transit, Co.) in Farmer City, Illinois, which has grown into PFT Roberson, Inc. These two pioneers had only a handful of trucks but a lot of intestinal fortitude. One of the first companies to utilize PFT's services was Lustron Homes in Columbus, Ohio."

Lustron: The House America's Been Waiting For, a co-production of KDN Videoworks & WOSU.TV (Ohio State University). The film will be distributed to PBS television stations November 23 or you can catch it this month at several film festivals including Detroit, Milwaukee, Fort Lauderdale and Schenectady. More information and copies of the video are available at www.lustron.org.

Also check out this site related to the Lustron video, sponsored by WOSU.TV which includes a factory tour, house tour, and history.

Metal Homes Digest "Metal Home Digest covers the use of metal construction products in residential applications. These products include, but are not limited to: steel framing systems, light-gauge steel stud framing, metal roofing, metal siding, doors and other related products. Coverage of both new and retrofit/remodeling projects are featured. Articles range from technical columns to project profiles, with emphasis placed on product reviews and previews."

Metal Architecture "Metal Architecture is published monthly for the professional architect engaged in the design of commercial, industrial and institutional buildings--as well as retrofit projects. The editorial emphasis is aimed at designing these buildings with metal, including primary and secondary structurals, metal roofing and wall panels, as well as tilt-up concrete with metal roofing, and masonry with metal roofing. Coverage includes various related construction products and services."

Personal Sites:

Lustron House to be Renovated, #2456