[csda] Quantico offers free military homes (fwd)

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Quantico offers free military homes

http://washingtontimes.com/metro/20060313-104228-1798r.htm

Published March 14, 2006

QUANTICO, Va. (AP) -- The Quantico Marine Corps base is offering free

steel-paneled homes to anyone who can disassemble them and haul them away.

The 58 prefabricated Lustron homes were part of a short-lived attempt

in the late 1940s to solve the post-World War II housing shortage.

Quantico's collection is thought to be among the world's largest.

" These are examples of our country's recent past, " said Bereket

Selassie of Realty Capital, which is handling the giveaway. " They are

something people want to see an effort to preserve. "

Two Lustron homes will be kept on base and preserved.

" Housing is a huge retention issue for the military, " Mr. Selassie said.

While the 900- and 1,000-square-foot Lustrons were adequate in the

late 1940s, they're too small for today's families, he said.

The Lustrons, along with much of the rest of Quantico's base housing,

will be replaced by 1,800-square-foot houses.

Applications for the first batch of 23 Lustrons are due April 12 and

will be awarded in May.

The new Lustron owners will have the month of July to take the houses

apart and move them. The rest of the houses will be made available next year.

" We want to give them to people who want to live in them rather than

sell them for scrap metal, " Mr. Selassie said.

Mr. Selassie said they have gotten hundreds of phone calls from people

inquiring about the houses.

Because they are mostly steel, they are of particular interest to

people with severe and multiple allergies.

When reviewing the applications, preference will be given to those

wishing to relocate a number of Lustrons to establish a neighborhood, those

wanting to use them for hurricane victims, and those that would keep the

Lustrons in Prince County.

Lustron lovers have been buzzing about the giveaway since it was

announced last month. The unique little pastel-colored homes have a strong

following.

Two books have been written and a documentary made about them.

There also are several Web sites and a chat group devoted to the

homes. The feasibility of acquiring a Quantico Lustron is being much

debated in Lustron circles.

Colin Strayer, a Lustron expert, warns those longing for a Quantico

Lustron to be realistic.

" It cannot be stressed enough that acquiring something 'for free' is

merely the beginning of a very long, involved and often costly project, "

Mr. Strayer wrote in a Lustron chat group posting.

Estimates range from $65,000 to $125,000 to disassemble and move the

houses.

Plus, Realty Capital is requiring a $15,000 refundable deposit

placed on each house to ensure that it is moved within the time frame.

And that doesn't include the cost of buying land on which to put the

Lustrons.

Lustron purists might also be disappointed to learn that the Quantico

collection has been altered from the original condition.

The porcelain-enameled steel panels have been painted inside and out,

and a 1982 renovation project changed some of the interiors.

" But basically they are still Lustrons and worth saving, " said

, who worked in the Ohio Lustron assembly plant and has written a book

about the homes.

Marine Sgt. Carroll and his wife, Michele, said they were a

bit surprised at all the attention being given to their little steel house,

which is well worn after being occupied by countless Marine families.

" I can say one thing for it: We can hang our son's art anywhere we

want, " Sgt. Carroll said.

Copyright © 2006 News World Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

__

Lustron: Love and hate

By AILEEN M. STRENG

astreng@...

Sunday, March 5, 2006

" We just love this house, " said Anita , 75, with her husband, Lester,

73, in front of their steel Lustron home in Arlington, VA Thursday,

February 23, 2006. Lester has lived in the house since 1978. (Joe Brier photo)

MULTIMEDIA

360 Degree tour & Audio slideshow

The little pastel-colored Lustron homes were not only billed as the answer

to America's housing shortage following World War II, but the epitome in

style and modern convenience.

Carl Strandlund, a Chicago inventor and engineer, sold the federal

government and the public on the idea that he could mass-produce

assembly-line style houses made mostly of steel.

" The all steel construction of the Lustron Home means not only speed and

savings from straight-line factory production, but also cheerful living,

easy maintenance, permanence and practically no deprecation, " according to

late 1940s promotional material.

With the help of federal financial backing, the first Lustron home rolled

off an Ohio assembly line in 1948 and the public was smitten.

Some 60 years later the public is still fascinated.

Audio slideshow - The Carroll residence on Quantico Marine Corps base

RELATED ARTICLE

Homes free for the taking

http://www.potomacnews.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WPN/MGArticle/WPN_BasicArt\

icle & c=MGArticle & cid=1137834519188 & path=

" I just love it, " said Lester , 73, of Arlington who bought his

two-bedroom gray Lustron in 1978. " Everyone who comes in says it's so cozy

and warm. "

Two books about Lustrons have been published and a documentary was recently

made on the steel houses.

There also are several Web sites and a chat group devoted to the

homes along with national registry listings with each home's location,

condition and its serial number. All Lustrons came with a serial number

printed on the utility box.

A Lustron has even been auctioned on Ebay and 58 of them - the largest

collection in the country - are being offered for free at the Quantico

Marine Corps base to anyone who can disassemble and haul them away. The

base is preserving two others for historical purposes.

Two- and three-bedroom Lustrons are small by today's standards, 800- to

1,200-square-feet, which is one of the reasons the Marine Corps wants to

replace them with 1,800-square-foot base housing.

Lustrons are made from more than 3,000 prefabricated parts, including

porcelain-enameled steel panels inside and out.

As with a porcelain bathtub, the panels never had to be painted and can be

cleaned by washing them down with a hose.

" The upkeeps is easy, " said. " Everything is so easy to get to and

there are lots of built-ins. "

Lustrons came with many interior extras, such as large picture windows,

built-in shelves and a bedroom vanity, storage cabinets and a combination

dishwasher and washing machine in the kitchen.

It was the vanity that sold 's daughter on the house, which is listed

on the National Registry of Historic Places.

Lustrons were advertised as being fireproof, decay-proof, vermin-proof,

rustproof and termite-proof.

The homes arrived from the factory in pieces and were packed in reverse

order of assembly.

For a few years, Lustrons popped up throughout the country but mostly east

of the Rocky Mountains where transportation costs from the Ohio plant would

have been less.

But along the way, problems quickly arose.

While the Lustron Corporation claimed that it could produce 100 houses a

day, in reality production ran between only 15 and 20 houses. And, instead

of an estimated price tag of $6,500, most sold for around $10,000.

Additionally, Strandlund required that dealers pay cash at the factory,

putting all the financial risk of transporting and selling the houses on

the dealer alone.

Sales soon fell and production costs rose. The government and the public

soured on Lustrons.

In 1950, Strandlund declared bankruptcy. Only about 2,500 were built and

between 1,500 and 2,000 are believed to be still in existence, including

the 60 at Quantico.

Largen has lived in one in Arlington for the last four years. " I

like it, " he said. " Especially when it rains. It sounds great because I

have a metal roof. "

At one point there were at least 11 Lustrons listed in Arlington including

the one that Largen rents and the 's. There also were another two in

andria. On Largen's street there had once been three. Only two remain.

Several of the others in Arlington have been torn down as have one of the

two in andria.

As with many houses, the value of the land that the Lustrons stand on is

often worth more than the houses themselves.

According to one Internet registry, there are less than 90 Lustrons in

Virginia.

With many of them being razed each year to make room for bigger homes,

said he would like to see the Quantico Lustrons kept.

" I would say, yes, because they are unique houses, " said.

__

Homes free for the taking

Quantico Lustrons will be replaced after they're moved away

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_Ba\

sicArticle & c=MGArticle & cid=1137834677830 & path=!news & s=1045855934842

BY AILEEN M. STRENG

MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE

Mar 13, 2006

QUANTICO - The Quantico Marine Corps base wants to give away 58 little

steel houses to anyone who can take them apart and haul them away.

The Quantico collection of Lustron Homes - which were part of a short-lived

attempt in the late 1940s to solve the post-World War II housing shortage

with prefabricated steel-paneled houses - is the largest in the country.

" These are examples of our country's recent past, " said Bereket Selassie of

Realty Capital, which is heading the project. " They are something

people want to see an effort to preserve. [Offering them free for the

taking] is what we came up with as a solution. "

Two Lustron homes will be kept at the base and preserved.

... . .

is part of a public-private venture through which new base housing is

being designed, built and maintained. and its partners in the private

venture will retain ownership for 50 years and the government will pay rent..

" Housing is a huge retention issue for the military, " Selassie said,

because most re-enlisting service members are married.

While the 900- and 1,000-square-foot Lustrons were adequate in the late

1940s, " they are really too small for today's families, " Selassie said.

The Lustrons, along with much of the rest of Quantico's base housing, will

be replaced by 1,800-square-foot houses.

But the Lustrons have to be moved first.

Applications for the first batch of 23 Lustrons in the Geiger Ridge

neighborhood are due April 12 and will be awarded in May. The new Lustron

owners will have the month of July to take the houses apart and move them.

The rest of the houses will be made available next year.

" We want to give them to people who want to live in them rather than sell

them for scrap metal, " Selassie said.

Hundreds of people have called to inquire about the houses, Selassie said.

Because they are mostly steel, they are of particular interest to people

with severe and multiple allergies.

When reviewing the applications, preference will be given to those wishing

to relocate a number of Lustrons and re-establish a neighborhood and those

wanting to use them for hurricane victims, as well as those who would keep

the Lustrons in Prince County.

" Simply because they are part of Prince County's history, " Selassie

said. " It would be great if some of them were kept in the area. "

And Lustron lovers have been buzzing about the giveaway since it was

announced last month. The little pastel-colored homes have an almost

cultlike following. Two books have been written and a documentary made

about them.

... . .

There are also several Web sites and a chat group devoted to the

homes. The feasibility of acquiring a Quantico Lustron is being much

debated in Lustron circles.

Colin Strayer, a Lustron expert, warns those longing for a Quantico Lustron

to be realistic.

" It cannot be stressed enough that acquiring something 'for free' is merely

the beginning of a very long, involved and often costly project, " Strayer

wrote in a Lustron chat group posting.

Estimates range from $65,000 to $125,000 to disassemble and move the

houses. Plus, is requiring a $15,000 refundable deposit placed on

each house to make sure it is moved within the time frame. And that does

not include the cost of buying land to put the house on.

" We are not charging for them, but there are costs associated with them, "

Selassie said.

Lustron purists might also be disappointed to learn that the Quantico

collection has been altered from the original condition. The

porcelain-enameled steel panels have been painted inside and out and a 1982

renovation project changed some of the interiors.

" But basically they are still Lustrons and worth saving, " said ,

who worked in the Ohio Lustron assembly plant and has written a book about

the homes.

has donated a manual on erecting Lustrons to the Quantico project.

While it might be difficult to take apart a structure that was assembled

more than 50 years ago, it can be done, he said.

" It doesn't take a rocket scientist to take them down and put them back up

if you follow the rules, " said.

Marine Sgt. Carroll and his wife, Michele, said they were a bit

surprised at all the attention being given to their little steel house and

the others on base.

The house is small and beat-up after being occupied by countless Marine

families, they said.

" I can say one thing for it, we can hang our son's art anywhere we want, "

Carroll said.

Magnets - and artwork - are never restricted to the refrigerator in a

Lustron home.

Aileen M. Streng is a staff writer for the Potomac News and Manassas

Journal Messenger.

__

The prices make these model homes a steel

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/022006/02172006/0217hh

Want a Lustron? The all-steel post-World War II houses that are home to

Marines at Quantico are to be given away to those willing to dismantle and

move them

Date published: 2/17/2006

By RICHARD AMRHINE

THEY WERE BILLED as the solu-tion to the nation’s post-World War II housing

shortage. They were to be the Model Ts of the housing industry, rolling off

assembly lines and onto housing lots across America.

But the all-steel homes called Lustrons didn’t turn out to be as popular,

or as efficient to produce, as their originators had envisioned. Some 2,500

were manufactured by 1950, and of the 2,000 believed to be left standing,

the largest group—about 60 of them—is at Quantico Marine Corps Base.

If you would like to have one, it could be yours for free if you’re willing

to dismantle it and haul it away. You have to apply by April 12 to be

eligible for one of the first group of 23 Lustrons. They will be awarded in

May.

Lustron homes were the brainchild of entrepreneur Carl G. Strandlund, who

pitched his idea to Wyatt, appointed National Housing Expeditor

under President Harry Truman.

Soon, a former aircraft factory in Ohio was producing them. Except for the

floors and windows, they were built entirely of steel—the interior and

exterior walls, the ceilings and the roof.

The idea wasn’t exactly new, according to the Web site lustronsatquantico

...com. Porcelain-enameled steel panels were already being used for gas

stations and stores by the mid-1940s. It was Strandlund’s vision that homes

could be built in the same fashion.

After all, the nation had been producing huge amounts of steel during the

war for Jeeps, tanks, planes and munitions. But what of that industry in

the postwar era? Detroit would soon make use of much of that steel

production capacity as Americans began their love affair with the

automobile. Certainly some of that steel could be used for mass-produced,

prefabricated housing.

Today, 40 years later, Quantico’s Lustrons are still used for military

housing. One resident is Marine Gunnery Sgt. s. He’s a

native of Pittsburgh, a city so linked to the steel industry that it named

its football team the Steelers.

“I like my steel house,” said s, a fan of his hometown champions..

“If I had my way I would just stay here.”

One reason he likes it is that the entire house is a magnetic bulletin

board, unlike most homes in which that function is limited to the

refrigerator. The artwork of his two young children, for example, can be

exhibited, with the help of a magnet clip, just about anywhere.

For heavier wall hangings, a sheet-metal screw will do the trick.

Another thing s likes about the house is its indestructibility.

“Of course my kids can’t hurt it,” he said, but neither can acts of nature.

When a storm brought down a tree on the Lustron next door, it left a minor

dent.

There are a few downsides, though. With only about 900 square feet—and

that’s one of the “large” three-bedroom models—there isn’t really adequate

living space by modern standards. There is only one bathroom, and no

basement or attic. Those at Quantico have had a backyard shed or two for

storage space.

They are not very well insulated, so before they were retro-fitted with air

conditioning systems they were like ovens in the summer. The original

heating system radiated from the ceiling—a bad idea given that heat rises..

s said the reconfigured heating system in his Lustron works well

enough to prevent the house from being an icebox in the winter.

The only other changes from the original were made in the kitchens, where

wood cabinets and laminated counters have replaced the original steel ones.

The Lustron giveaway program is being run by Realty Capital, a

corporate cousin of Construction of Bethesda, Md. is one of a

few companies across the country involved in the privatized construction of

military housing. At Quantico, its joint venture with the Department of the

Navy is producing hundreds of new and replacement housing units.

will eventually redevelop the land on which the Lustrons now sit with

new and improved housing. Quantico will keep a couple of the Lustrons for

sentimental reasons.

Bereket Selassie, a development executive with , said decent housing

is key to the military’s all-volunteer movement.

“When the Lustrons were first built, mostly for the returning [World War

II] GIs, the demographics of the Marines and the military as a whole was

much different—more single people,” he said.

“But now more people are making a career out of the military, and that

means families, which means housing is a huge retention issue,” Selassie

said. “They want people to feel good about being able to be a good provider

for their families.”

He said the typical housing that is building has twice the square

footage of the Lustrons—1,800 square feet—with 21/2 bathrooms and a garage.

But the role the Lustrons played in the postwar era and their architectural

interest makes them worth preserving, Selassie said. Although they are

being given away, the cost of disassembling and moving one to a new

location is estimated at between $80,000 and $100,000. Successful bidders

need to show they can act quickly and have the necessary funds.

A guide to assembling and dismantling Lustrons has been found; it is being

reproduced in booklets and also will be available online.

Selassie said preservationists hope museums will take an interest in the

houses. Interest in the Lustrons is also coming from those looking for

low-maintenance, single-story living, or those who require allergen-free

surroundings. There’s no need for pest treatments because termites don’t

like Lustrons and they block the entry of vermin.

Originally, every Lustron made was turquoise. But someone decided that for

the sake of variety they should be painted different colors, which the

Quantico Lustron Web site describe as maize yellow, dove gray, surf blue,

desert tan, flamingo pink, sea blue–green and brush-three-times-a-day white.

After that, at some point, the term “Easter egg houses” was coined.

Selassie said the Lustrons’ uniqueness has provided his company with an

interesting diversion while it builds new housing at Quantico. “We are

tickled pink by the Lustrons,” he said, “and green and blue and yellow.”

To reach RICHARD AMRHINE: 540/374-5406 ramrhine@...

Date published: 2/17/2006

__

Free to those who can haul them away: Quantico's Lustron homes

http://www.wavy.com/Global/story.asp?S=4620323 & nav=menu45_2

QUANTICO, Va. The Quantico Marine Corps base is offering free steel-paneled

homes to anyone who can disassemble them and haul them away.

They're prefabricated Lustron homes and there are 58 of them for the

taking. The homes were part of a short-lived attempt in the late 1940s to

solve the post-World War II housing shortage.

Two Lustron homes will be kept on base and preserved. The Lustrons and much

of the rest of Quantico's base housing will be replaced by

18-hundred-square-foot houses.

Applications for the first batch of 23 Lustrons are due April 12th. They

will be awarded in May.

The new Lustron owners will have all July to take the houses apart and move

them. The rest of the houses will be made available next year.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not

be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.