THIS TEXT IS FROM A SMALL BROCHURE GIVEN OUT BY THE LUSTRON CORPORATION PRIOR TO THEIR CONSTRUCTION.
BUILDER - DEALERS
The Lustron Home is sold only through the local Lustron dealers. The dealer will purchase the home direct from the factory, erect it, and sell it to you. All sales must be initiated and completed through him. None are handled directly by the factory.
Incidentally, we're proud of our dealers. Through a very careful screening system we are rapidly setting up a nationwide dealer network. If a dealer has not yet been appointed in your area, we ask you to bear with us until we can expand our dealer organization into your locality.
LOTS
There are more than 1000 square feet of floor space in the Lustron Home. This means that a 50' x 100' or larger lot will best accommodate the 31' x 35' floor plan. If you do not own a lot now and would like to buy one for a Lustron Home, wait until you have talked with your dealer. He will be able to advise you correctly.
HEATING
Visualize the way the sun's rays heat the surface of the earth. The same principle is used in Lustron's radiant panel heating system. It is the latest development in modern heating engineering. Hot air from the overhead furnace unit is forced into a chamber above the ceiling. Heat rays radiate downward from the ceiling panels, heating the floor-to-ceiling area evenly. There are no uncomfortable air currents carrying dirt and soot through the house. The automatic heating plant is economical to operate.
PRICE
Your dealer will announce the price of the erected home when the houses are ready for delivery. The price will include the foundation and the erection of the home. Site improvement and the extension of sewer, water, and other utilities are extra,varying as they do with each lot. Mass production and speedy erection make it possible to deliver the Lustron Home at a price never before available for quality houses in this class.
COLORS
The colors for the Lustron Home have been chosen by leading designers and color experts. Interior colors are designed to make furnishing and decorating easy. Neutral shades permit the widest possible variation in choice of draperies, rugs, and individual decorating schemes. Permanent finishes cut down maintenance cost. Exterior colors are distinctive and lend a feeling of quality and permanence
BASEMENT
The Lustron Home is designed with maximum storage and service facilities on the first floor. A basement - the old neccessary evil - is not needed. The furnace is located at the ceiling in the large utility room. The combination dishwasher-clotheswasher-sink in the kitchen brings your laundy upstairs for greater convenience. The washer spin-dries the clothes, and hooks are attached to the walls of the utility room to hang the clothesline. Seven large closets, many overhead cabinets, and the spacious utility room provide ample storage space without a basement.
ERECTION TIME
The complete Lustron Home package is shipped from the factory to the builder-dealer, ready for speedy erection on the site by the dealer's specially trained crew.
PICTURE HANGING
Pictures can be hung with screws set in the plastic sealing strips between the interior panels. You can change your mind, too! If you don't like the picture in one spot it's easy to remove the screw and put it in another place.
GARAGES
We are using all of our limited supply of steel to give as many house-hungry Americans a place to live as we can. Garages are included in our plans for the future but are not available now. We will have designs for garages to match the Lustron Home.
PORCELAIN ENAMEL
Lustron porcelain enamel is a mineral substance like glass, which is fused to steel at a temperature above 1300 degrees Fahrenheit. The high quality porcelain enamel used in the Lustron Home is remarkably durable and will withstand abuse and atmospheric conditions. Porcelain enamel is the best protective covering known for metal. The Lustron porcelain enamel is non-glossy and comes in beautiful pastel colors. It has been used for many years on the best stoves, refrigerator interiors, washing machines, store fronts, and service stations.
AN EXTERIOR VIEW OF THE LUSTRON HOME (Photo and Floor Plan)
Take a look at the floor plan of the Lustron Home. Note the five large rooms, plus the utility room. Look closely at the placement of the four picture windows. Check the many spacious cupboards and closets. There are more than 1000 square feet of floor space, making the home larger than the average five room house.
BUILDING CODES
The Lustron Home can be built in almost any city or town in the United States. The Lustron building codes experts work in close cooperation with Lustron Builder-Dealers. Together they are approaching code problems in localities where new types of construction are opposed.
OTHER MODELS
At present, we are marketing only one model - the five room one-floor plan home that you have seen in national advertisements or on display. There are no provisions for adding rooms to this home. America needs housing and our purpose is to put a quality product on the market at the lowest possible cost to meet this demand. Future plans call for larger models.
FINANCING
The usual sources of home financing, including FHA-insured and GI loans, are available. The Federal Housing Administration has issued its Engineering Bulliten covering construction of the Lustron Home. The dealer is prepared to assist the customer in arranging mortgage financing through the customary channels.
FIREPLACES
Sorry, no fireplaces! No provision has been made for fireplaces in the present model of the Lustron Home.
FOUNDATION
You need a good foundation to have good house. The Lustron concrete floor slab was designed with special attention given to insulation and moisture protection. Floors are covered with polished asphalt tile in colors chosen to harmonize with walls and furnishings.
PAINTING AND PAPERING
Lustron Homes have walls of permanent washable porcelain enamel and will never need redecorating. If you damage a panel surface - and it takes extreme abuse to do so - it can be repaired or replaced.
UTILITY ROOM
A spacious utility room houses the automatic water heater as well as the heating unit - both furnished with the house. The utility room provides ample space for activities such as ironing or sewing, and for miscellanious storage and appliances.
SCREENS
Window screens are furnihed with the house. If you want combiation screen-storm doors, separate screen doors, and storm windows, they can be obtained from your dealer as accessories.
SANITARY
The all-steel construction makes the Lustron Home completely termiteproof, verminproof, and ratproof. It's also fireproof, decayproof, stainproof, salt-waterproof - let's just say it's almost maintenance proof.
INSULATION
Fireproof insulating material is used throughout the Lustron Home. This provides adequate insulation for any climate, keeping you warm in winter and cooler in the summer.
LIGHTNING
Imagine a self-contained lightning rod! That's what you have in the Lustron Home. Putting it technically, the house serves to dissipate the static electricity. The all-steel construction has no effect at all on radio reception or television.
ROOF
The lifetime roof is made of the same porcelain enameled steel used throughout the house. all outside parts, gutters, down drains, and walls are of permanent porcelain enameled steel.
ATTIC
There is no attic. This space is used for structural members, and for heating and insulating. This allows for greater living comfort.
THIS GIANT PLANT IN COLUMBUS, OHIO IS TOOLED UP FOR VOLUME PRODUCTION OF THE LUSTRON HOME
SUMMING IT UP
Now, let's list some of the features we've been telling you about.
1. LOW UPKEEP: No painting or redecorating - just use soap and water to keep it clean! The combination of steel, noted for it's strength and durabilty, and porcelain enamel, the best known preserver of metals, makes for permanency and saves on the usual year-to-year repair bills.
2. RADIANT PANEL HEATING: This latest of heating systems maintains constant temperature throughout the home. The absence of air currents carrying dirt and soot makes the house easy to keep clean.
3. PICTURE FRAME WINDOWS: Large picture windows in bedrooms, living room, and dining room provide excellant view and good lighting.
4. ONE-FLOOR PLAN: The convenience of one-floor living - no stairs to climb. With the combination dishwasher-clotheswasher-sink, furnace and ample storage space on the first floor, you do not need a basement.
5. BUILT-IN FEATURES: Every inch of space is utilized. Built-in dishwasher-clotheswasher-sink, bookcase and china cabinets, seven large closets, vanity in master bedroom, sliding doors, overhead storage cabinets, kitchen ventilating fan, and many other features are included. These quality features have never before been available in a house in this price class, and are made possible by Lustron's modern mass production methods.
The following is the letter that came from the Lustron Corporation if you had inquired about the Lustron Home.
THE LUSTRON HOME
LUSTRON CORPORATION, 4200 EAST FIFTH AVENUE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
In reply refer to box 2023 N
Dear Friend:
Thank you for your inquiry about the Lustron Home. Houses come off our production line now in steadily increasing volume. Specially designed trucks deliver them to our dealers to be erected for their customers. Families are moving in!
From the reports we get, these new Lustron Home owners are delighted with their purchase and are enjoying the comforts and conveniences provided in this modern house, efficiently planned and designed to allow for more leisure time and easier living. You will see more Lustron Homes in the coming months.
Only franchised builder-dealers sell and erect Lustron Homes. No homes are sold directly by the factory. If a dealer has not already been appointed in your area, watch your local newspapers for an announcement.
The price of the Lustron Home, including foundation and erection, will be announced by your local dealer. It will vary according to erection cost in your own community and the size and condition of the lot. Site improvement and the extension of sewer, water, and other utilities are extra, varying as they do with each lot.
We are enclosing a booklet which we hope will answer all your questions about the Lustron Home until you can talk with your dealer.
Very cordially yours,
LUSTRON CORPORATION
C. G. Strandlund
President
A NEW STANDARD FOR LIVING
The following text is from a small insert that came with the letter and brochure above.
GET THIS BOOK BEFORE YOU BUILD OR BUY
"HOW TO OWN YOUR OWN HOME NOW!"
Step-by-step instructions for buying a home with FHA or GI loans
- How to get a loan
- How to figure monthly payments
- What to look for in a house
- How to judge a neighborhood
- How to close a deal on a house
Special section by Senator Joe McCarthy explaining government aids.
35 cents
HOME SERVICE BUREAU
Lustron Corporation
Dept. G. P. O. Box 358, Marian, O.
I enclose 35 cents (in coin). Send copy "How to Own Your Own Home Now."
Name...................................
Address...................................
City.............Zone........State........
I am not sure just when this brochure came out, but it depicts several models of the Lustron Home. It also features garages and breezeways. My guess would be around 1950.
GARAGE AND BREEZEWAY VARIATIONS WITH LUSTRON HOMES
Sketched on these pages are only a few of the many variations in garage and breezway arrangements which will give your Lustron home individuality and personal charm. You and your Lustron dealer can work out the perfect arrangement for you. Lustron furnishes porcelain panels to its dealers for garages to match the colors you have chosen for your house. Garages, breezeways, and porches can be custom-made by your dealer using local materials supplied by Lustron. Sunshades, for example, can be made of wood bolted to house and garage.
THE LUSTRON Westchester DELUXE TWO-BEDROOM HOME
A 6-ft., flat-roofed extension of the porch increases its dimensions to 12' x 12', a convenient size to screen or enclose if desired. It provides a sheltered passage to the garage. The "L" between house and garage becomes a pleasantly private patio. Porch extension may vary as the lot is wider or narrower. Minimum width lot for this plan with single garage is 60'.
Note that the garage projects beyond the front of the house, lending interest to the facade. The porch extension may be practically flat. The slight slope should be toward the rear.
For the narrower lot, garage is beyond rear of the house and overlapping it a few feet. Porcelain side panels and roof match the house perfectly. Seen from the street, the house and garage appear as one structure. A connecting breezeway or sunshade heightens the effect.
Sketched is a Califonia sunshade between house and garage. This creates a delightful patio that may be extended to any desired depth. If preffered, a solid roof maybe used and screens added for a living porch.
This arangement is ideal for a wide lot (100') or for a corner lot with 65' to 75' frontage. Since the garage doors are at right angles to the front of the house, the appearance of a larger house is marked. The garage may be single or double. Again the house and garage may be connected in a variety of ways and space for a secluded patio is created.
THE LUSTRON Westchester DELUXE THREE-BEDROOM HOME
Add a matching garage to the 39', long 3-bedroom home, and you create a truly imposing residence. For the lot as narrow as 70' it is necessary for the garage doors to face the street. A single garage would fit nicely on the 60' lot. A trifle wider lot would ease the problem.
The columns supporting the porch and breezeway are spaced so that the first pair are equidistant from the entrance door. Additional columns maintain this spacing. Decorative Lustron trellises may be substituted for the columns. Patio space is in the house-garage "L."
In this plan garage doors are at right angles to the street. Requires a wide inside lot or corner lot. The combination porch and breezeway shown is modern in appearance. Supporting members may be the Lustron trellises shown or simple cylindrical columns (4" or 5" pipe is very satisfactory). This contemporary styling may be used equally well with the arrangement at top of page. The breezeway may be as narrow as 40" without looking inadequate.
THE LUSTRON Newport TWO-BEDROOM HOME
With the Lustron Newport, Lustron introduces a new line of smaller 2- and 3-bedroom homes of the same fine quality as the Lustron Westchester models.
The Lustron Newport 2-bedroom home pictured above is 31' x 23'. With the additon of a garage and patio or breezeway, it carries out the ranch-style ppearance which has become so popular in other Lustron homes. The 15' x 23' garage may be placed near the house and connected with a lattice on a 50' lot, giving complete privacy to the rear patio.
The Lustron Newport is available in a 3-bedroom model also, and provides budget-conscience families with a home of lasting beauty in which they can take real pride. The Lustron Meadowbrook homes, in both 2- and 3-bedroom models, are slightly larger than the Newport models, but the plan shown above illustrates how easy it is to enlarge your home in appearance and convenience by careful location of garage and breezeway additions.
Most arrrangemnts shown on the inside of this folder may be adapted to the Lustron Newport and the Lustron Meadowbrook models.
For Your Home of Distinction - Look to Lustron!
With Lustron now offering eight styles of houses, you are sure to satisfy your own taste in size and appearance. From the complete line of Lustron homes - Lustron Westchester, Deluxe and Standard, Lustron Meadowbrook and Lustron Newport - you can easily select the model which best suits your families needs and the price range you have in mind.
Here, briefly, are the facts to prove that your Lustron home can be a true reflection of your personal preferences.
You can choose either two or three-bedroom models in each price class.
You can select one of the four beautiful exterior color combinations designed with the help of Howard Ketchum, Inc., leading color expert. These colors are maize yellow, dove grey, surf blue and desert tan - all with matching roof colors and white trim.
You can build a garage to match your Lustron home, using the same lifetime porcelain panels as are on the exterior of your home, in matching colors.
You can build connecting breezeways, sunshades and porches - using locally available conventional materials - to create outdoor living areas and add to the beauty of your Lustron home.
All of these possibilities are available to you NOW!
Many Lustron homeowners have shown unusual skill and good taste in planning their Lustron homes to express their individual personalities. They have given careful thought to selecing a lot with trees and surroundings suitable for the low, ranch-style design of the Lustron home. Then, by carefully locating the house on the lot, by adding a garage and sunshade or breezeway, and by landscaping simply to tie the whole design together, they have created homes which are the envy of their neighbors and a real credit to their community. You can do the same! In fact, you may be able to do better!
Garages are available for either one or two cars, with extra space for storage or a workshop. Your Lustron dealer will be glad to work out the details with you. If you cannot afford to do everything at once, plan your lot so you can add the garage later.
Your own style of landscaping will add a highly personal touch to your Lustron. Whether you enjoy "fussing" with your lawn and garden, trees and shrubbery, or whether you enlist the services of professional nurserymen, you can achieve landscaping effects which are sure to add colorful character to your home.
Then consider the many variations in interior decoration possible with Lustron's distinctive interior colors. These neutral colors have been carefully designed to blend with any furnishings or decorations which you my choose.
LUSTRON MULTIPLE-HOME PROJECTS CREATE NEW BEAUTY
The almost unlimited possibilities for variation in Lustron homes - only a few of which are touched on in this folder - open up new fields for creating beautiful subdivisions of Lustron Homes. All Lustron colors have been designed to blend with each other perfectly, and the various models blend harmoniously together. Each Lustron Home adds to the beauty of its neighbor, creating an impression of delightful unity.
Whether in groups of five or ten, or in projects of several thousand homes, the net result is a harmonious groupng of beautiful homes which gives every Lustron homeowner both pride in his own home and in the project as a whole.
Lustron is truly America's Family Home - creating A New Standard for Living.
LUSTRON CORPORATION * 4200 EAST FIFTH AVENUE * COLUMBUS 16, OHIO
