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From YouTube: A Lustron Legacy
Description
Arlington Virginia's effort to move an preserve a Lustron House. The house is expected to be shipped to New York's Museum of Modern Art.
A
A
But
first
let
me
tell
you
a
little
more
about
luster
on
houses.
In
the
mid
twentieth
century,
the
ingenious
all-metal
luster
on
house
named
for
its
lustrous
enamel
finish
caused
the
short-lived
national
sensation.
Before
the
luster
on
corporation
went
bankrupt
in
1950,
slightly
more
than
2,500
of
these
houses
were
shipped
nationwide.
A
A
Luster
ons
were
ingenious
not
only
in
their
materials
but
also
in
their
open
floor
plan
built
in
cabinetry
and
appliances
and
virtually
maintenance-free
construction.
The
houses
were
clad
in
one
of
four
exterior
colors
of
porcelain
enamel,
which
were
marketed
as
dove
gray.
Like
my
old
house
desert
tan
surf
blue
and
maize,
yellow
back
then
luster
ons
were
considered
perfect
for
the
growing
American
family.
My
father
was
an
electrical
engineer
and
like
new
technology,
and
he
really
appreciated
the
fact
that
the
Loess
Tron
was
all
metal,
low
maintenance
and
very
efficient
mom,
like
that.
A
We
didn't
need
a
lot
of
furniture
because
of
all
the
built-in
units
as
a
kid
I,
especially
liked
the
sliding
doors
to
the
bedrooms
and
bathrooms.
Other
families
obviously
agreed
in
a
short
time,
orders
poured
into
the
luster
on
factory
for
this
so-called
house.
America's
been
waiting
for
large
concentrations
of
lust
Ron's
were
shipped
to
the
Midwest,
the
mid-atlantic
states
and
other
regions,
with
the
completion
of
the
Pentagon
in
1943
and
the
expansion
of
the
federal
workforce.
A
Washington
DC
was
a
natural
draw
for
the
houses
after
World
War,
two,
the
city
and
the
surrounding
areas,
desperately
needed
housing
for
the
thousands
of
people
inundating
the
region
in
1948.
Sixty
lustre
on
houses
were
built
at
the
Marine
Corps
Base
in
Quantico
Virginia.
Thirty-Five
miles
south
of
Washington,
the
largest
quantity
in
any
one
location
and
in
Arlington,
County
Virginia,
just
west
of
the
nation's
capital,
11
lust
runs
were
built
in
1949,
amounting
to
the
second
highest
quantity
in
the
state.
A
Yet,
even
with
thirty
seven
and
a
half
million
dollars
in
federal
subsidies,
the
company
could
fill
only
two
thousand
six
hundred
eighty
of
the
more
than
20,000
orders
it
received
before
declaring
bankruptcy
in
1950.
The
reasons
for
the
company's
collapse
are
complicated.
Some
said
the
non-conventional
houses
were
simply
too
difficult
to
build
and
sell.
Other
said,
the
murky
politics
of
Housing
and
Finance
were
to
blame
today.
A
All
across
the
country,
however,
dedicated
preservationist
sand
luster
on
owners
are
working
together
to
save
the
remaining
luster
ons
and
revitalize
them,
and
as
houses,
museums,
community
centers
or
for
other
public
or
private
functions.
In
more
than
half
a
dozen
states,
luster
ons
have
been
added
to
the
National
Register
of
Historic
Places.
A
This
is
why
I
was
so
excited
to
be
part
of
a
groundbreaking
project
to
preserve
my
luster
on
in
Arlington
in
2005,
I
was
moving
to
Maryland
and
decided
to
sell
my
luster
on
I
hope
to
find
a
buyer
who
appreciated
the
houses.
Historic
significance
and
I
was
lucky
to
sell
it
to
dr.
Clifford
M
crown
a
respected
scientist
and
history
buff.
After
purchasing
the
house,
he
offered
to
donate
the
luster
on
to
the
county,
either
whole
or
in
parts
if
it
could
be
moved
off
his
property.
This.
A
D
A
All
the
other
less
Tron's
in
Arlington
County,
my
house
was
a
West
Chester
deluxe
model
with
two
bedrooms
and
1085
square
feet
of
living
space
as
lust
rounds
go.
My
house
was
in
near-perfect
condition,
with
the
exception
of
the
kitchen
appliances
and
toil
the
house
retained
all
of
its
original
interior
and
exterior
features,
including
the
built-in
units
in
the
dining
room,
living
room
and
master
bedroom,
all
of
the
floor-to-ceiling
closets
and
sliding
pocket
doors,
all
the
metal,
paneling
and
roofing
the
bathroom
fixtures,
an
art,
deco,
styled
bathtub
and
the
still
functioning
gas
Ematic
furnace
unit.
A
B
Move
that
the
board
accept
the
donation
of
historic
Western
house
located
at
5
to
0
112th,
Street,
South
and
Columbia
Forest
in
order
to
save
it
from
demolition
by
the
current
owner,
reallocate
twenty-one
thousand
nine
hundred
dollars
from
the
general
fund
contingency
to
pay
for
the
disassembly
and
storage
costs
and
further
I
authorize
staff.
The
motion
authorizes
staff
to
proceed
with
hiring
a
contractor
to
go
ahead
and
assemble
the
building
and
store
it
for
future
reassembly
and
reuse
by
the
county.
F
G
H
Fortunately,
we
do
have
the
original
instruction
manual
for
the
place.
It's
it's
about
500
pages
of
diagrams
and
lists
and
pictures
and
generally
pretty
confusing.
You
basically
have
to
learn
everything.
You
know
the
electrical
of
the
house,
the
plumbing
the
HVAC,
a
kid
is
perhaps
a
misnomer
for
it.
The.
A
County
rented,
a
44
foot
trailer
box
to
be
used
for
on-site
storage
as
the
house
parts
were
removed,
County
preservation,
staff
and
volunteers
from
the
nonprofit
arlington
heritage
alliance.
Carefully
documented
the
entire
process
from
start
to
finish
by
writing
daily
site
notes,
taking
hundreds
of
photographs
and
hiring
a
videographer
to
capture
project
milestones
using
standard
tool
kits
the
crew
first
tackled
the
interior,
built-ins
and
vertical
wall
panels,
all
of
which
were
bolted
into
the
ceiling
structure.
H
The
owner
of
this
particular
house
had
gone
back
and
opened
up
the
exterior
panels
and
put
spray
foam
insulation
in
the
walls.
Originally,
it
came
with
with
this,
which
is
not
very
thick
fiberglass
batts
glued
to
the
backs
of
the
exterior
tiles,
but
then
they
had
taken
them
off
and
blown
this
kind
of
insulation
in
here,
which
is
nasty.
A
Many
people
agree
that
luster
ons
were
ahead
of
their
time
if
Carl
strand
lund
were
alive
today,
his
vision
for
the
less
Tron
might
be
seen
as
the
perfect
solution
to
some
of
our
modern
housing
problems.
Today's
architects
and
urban
planners
continue
producing
prefabricated
designs
to
meet
demands
for
affordable
housing
or
to
provide
durable
homes
in
the
wake
of
national
disasters.
A
For
me,
the
disassembly
of
my
lust
Ron
was
fulfilling
in
many
ways.
The
project
demonstrates
Arlington
County's
commitment
to
preservation
and
its
appreciation
of
the
lust,
Ron's,
architectural
and
historical
legacy.
It
is
tremendously
rewarding
to
know
that
this
home,
which
held
so
many
dear
memories
for
my
family,
will
be
preserved
for
future
generations
to
visitors.
It
will
be
a
wonderful
example
of
preservation
at
its
best,
but
to
me,
this
lust
Ron
will
always
feel
just
like
home.