Live in a 1950 Lustron steel home, yours for $120K

Here’s something we don’t see every day. Between 1948-50, a company called Lustron sold prefab steel homes to families looking for their own piece of the American dream. The homes were affordable and made of prefabricated porcelain enameled steel. They came with about 3,300 parts and took roughly 350 hours to assemble. Unfortunately, the company went bankrupt in 1950.

Courtesy of Kelly O'Meara, Re/Max Eclipse

Only about 1,500 remain, and some still stand in Oak Park and Ann Arbor. More history can be found at Saving Places.

A Lustron steel home in Oak Park has just come up on the market for the first time. Its original owners are selling the two bedroom, one bath home—which is really like a 1950 time capsule—for $120,000.

The owners still have the original manuals, and the kitchen sink and cabinets came from Montgomery Ward. The houses only came in a few colors for the exterior, and this one is “maize yellow.” Perhaps a new owner can make it feel like new again? This is one house that hits a lot of post-World War II nostalgia buttons. It’s listed through Kelly O’Meara at Re/Max Eclipse.

• 23420 Oneida Street, Oak Park