thedrifter
03-25-07, 01:51 PM
A House of Dreams but Few Takers
Despite Inspiring Many, Quantico's Lustrons Hard to Unload
By Nick Miroff
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 25, 2007; PW01
Grand schemes to save the Lustron homes of Quantico Marine Corps Base began floating into Prince William County last summer, not long after word got out that anyone interested in the quirky postwar-era metal houses could get one free.
Some said the Lustrons should be relocated to the Gulf Coast, to be used as sturdy shelters for hurricane victims. Another proposal sought to ship them to the desert town of Snowflake, Ariz., where they could serve as hypoallergenic homes for a community of plasterboard-averse residents afflicted with multiple chemical sensitivity.
But so far, the effort to spare Quantico's Lustrons from the wrecking ball has inspired plenty of dreamers but few serious takers. Despite a retro-cool, brightly colored Web site, www.lustronsatquantico.com, and an extended application period that ended this month, Clark Realty Capital still has 35 houses to give away and only a handful of eligible recipients with the resources and know-how to take on a Lustron.
"It's disheartening that a cost-effective solution hasn't been found where it makes sense for someone to take them to a place and set them up," said Mike Dowling, the Clark executive who is running the project. Clark Realty Capital is the real estate and development arm of Bethesda-based Clark Enterprises and its partners.
"We've learned that there is a lot of interest in the Lustron homes from a historical standpoint, but not as an affordable housing solution," Dowling said.
Indeed, although the Lustrons are technically free, they come with a whopper of a "some assembly required" warning. Made from porcelain-enameled steel panels, Lustrons weigh 11 tons and comprise 30,000 parts that must be meticulously disassembled.
The estimated cost of moving one can exceed $100,000, depending on labor and shipping costs, and can take a four-person crew a month to reassemble.
Inventor Carl G. Strandlund devised the Lustron in the late 1940s as a cheap solution to the postwar housing crunch -- a durable, prefabricated kit that could be shipped anywhere and assembled in days. They rolled off the assembly line of a Columbus, Ohio, plant that had manufactured airplane parts during World War II, and advertisements touted Lustrons -- named for their exterior sheen -- as fireproof, rustproof, termite-proof and washable with a garden hose.
Quantico ordered 60, giving the base the largest Lustron collection in the world, just before the company filed for bankruptcy protection in 1950.
Over the years, the pastel-colored, two- and three-bedroom ranch-style Lustrons have been durable as billed, though some Marines have likened them to "living in a file cabinet." At about 1,100 square feet, even the three-bedroom models are considered too small for today's military families. All but two of the houses are being removed as part of Clark's $240 million project to build 1,100 new houses on the base.
Twenty-three Lustrons have been demolished, and the remaining 35 must be gone by year's end. According to Dowling, Clark has at least four qualified applicants ready to take a Lustron, though none has had to post the required $8,000 deposit yet.
"At this point, I'm hopeful we'll find a home for all of these Lustrons," Dowling said.
Some Lustron enthusiasts have said they'll do anything to keep the unwanted houses off the scrap heap, though they aren't sure how they'll raise the money. A loose community of Lustron devotees across the country is keenly tracking the outcome of the Quantico program.
"They've got all those Marines running around with nothing to do, so one of their projects should be taking down those Lustrons," said Alex James of Columbus, who worked in the original Lustron plant.
James, 89, sells copies of the original "Lustron Erection Manual" for $38 on the Internet, as well as Lustron hats and a self-published book on the company's demise.
"They're just as sturdy as the day they were built," he said.
Rescuing the remaining Quantico Lustrons will be a big topic at the 2007 Lustron Homes conference, scheduled for June 9 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Organizer Don Janda said he expects about 175 people, many of whom share maintenance tips and organize preservation efforts through two online message boards for Lustron fans.
"Everybody is concerned and wants to save them," said Janda, who moved into his Lustron eight years ago. He calls it his "porcelain palace."
"It's yellow," he said. "Yep."
For Janda, the house's design is a swell match for his 1950s-era home furnishings and the red '57 Chevy parked in his driveway.
"I usually have pink flamingoes in out front, too," he said. "But I'm two blocks from a high school, and it seems like a pretty popular thing to do to steal them out of our yard."
Ellie
Despite Inspiring Many, Quantico's Lustrons Hard to Unload
By Nick Miroff
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 25, 2007; PW01
Grand schemes to save the Lustron homes of Quantico Marine Corps Base began floating into Prince William County last summer, not long after word got out that anyone interested in the quirky postwar-era metal houses could get one free.
Some said the Lustrons should be relocated to the Gulf Coast, to be used as sturdy shelters for hurricane victims. Another proposal sought to ship them to the desert town of Snowflake, Ariz., where they could serve as hypoallergenic homes for a community of plasterboard-averse residents afflicted with multiple chemical sensitivity.
But so far, the effort to spare Quantico's Lustrons from the wrecking ball has inspired plenty of dreamers but few serious takers. Despite a retro-cool, brightly colored Web site, www.lustronsatquantico.com, and an extended application period that ended this month, Clark Realty Capital still has 35 houses to give away and only a handful of eligible recipients with the resources and know-how to take on a Lustron.
"It's disheartening that a cost-effective solution hasn't been found where it makes sense for someone to take them to a place and set them up," said Mike Dowling, the Clark executive who is running the project. Clark Realty Capital is the real estate and development arm of Bethesda-based Clark Enterprises and its partners.
"We've learned that there is a lot of interest in the Lustron homes from a historical standpoint, but not as an affordable housing solution," Dowling said.
Indeed, although the Lustrons are technically free, they come with a whopper of a "some assembly required" warning. Made from porcelain-enameled steel panels, Lustrons weigh 11 tons and comprise 30,000 parts that must be meticulously disassembled.
The estimated cost of moving one can exceed $100,000, depending on labor and shipping costs, and can take a four-person crew a month to reassemble.
Inventor Carl G. Strandlund devised the Lustron in the late 1940s as a cheap solution to the postwar housing crunch -- a durable, prefabricated kit that could be shipped anywhere and assembled in days. They rolled off the assembly line of a Columbus, Ohio, plant that had manufactured airplane parts during World War II, and advertisements touted Lustrons -- named for their exterior sheen -- as fireproof, rustproof, termite-proof and washable with a garden hose.
Quantico ordered 60, giving the base the largest Lustron collection in the world, just before the company filed for bankruptcy protection in 1950.
Over the years, the pastel-colored, two- and three-bedroom ranch-style Lustrons have been durable as billed, though some Marines have likened them to "living in a file cabinet." At about 1,100 square feet, even the three-bedroom models are considered too small for today's military families. All but two of the houses are being removed as part of Clark's $240 million project to build 1,100 new houses on the base.
Twenty-three Lustrons have been demolished, and the remaining 35 must be gone by year's end. According to Dowling, Clark has at least four qualified applicants ready to take a Lustron, though none has had to post the required $8,000 deposit yet.
"At this point, I'm hopeful we'll find a home for all of these Lustrons," Dowling said.
Some Lustron enthusiasts have said they'll do anything to keep the unwanted houses off the scrap heap, though they aren't sure how they'll raise the money. A loose community of Lustron devotees across the country is keenly tracking the outcome of the Quantico program.
"They've got all those Marines running around with nothing to do, so one of their projects should be taking down those Lustrons," said Alex James of Columbus, who worked in the original Lustron plant.
James, 89, sells copies of the original "Lustron Erection Manual" for $38 on the Internet, as well as Lustron hats and a self-published book on the company's demise.
"They're just as sturdy as the day they were built," he said.
Rescuing the remaining Quantico Lustrons will be a big topic at the 2007 Lustron Homes conference, scheduled for June 9 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Organizer Don Janda said he expects about 175 people, many of whom share maintenance tips and organize preservation efforts through two online message boards for Lustron fans.
"Everybody is concerned and wants to save them," said Janda, who moved into his Lustron eight years ago. He calls it his "porcelain palace."
"It's yellow," he said. "Yep."
For Janda, the house's design is a swell match for his 1950s-era home furnishings and the red '57 Chevy parked in his driveway.
"I usually have pink flamingoes in out front, too," he said. "But I'm two blocks from a high school, and it seems like a pretty popular thing to do to steal them out of our yard."
Ellie