College Park’s Lustron House Is an Architectural Rarity
A rare piece of architectural history sits on a quiet street in College Park’s Calvert Hills neighborhood.
Built just after World War II, the one-story house at 4811 Harvard Rd. is one of only 1,500 Lustron homes remaining in the country.
Like the Sears kit homes before them, Lustrons were prefabricated to meet the massive post-war housing demand. But instead of wood, they were built with enameled steel, the same material that lines a modern oven. Instead of hammering nails to hang pictures, homeowners use magnets.
The brainchild of Chicago inventor Carl Strandlund, the low-maintenance, durable design was cut short when the Lustron Corp. collapsed after producing just 2,000 homes.
Today, the College Park house — a Westchester Deluxe Model 02 in Surf Blue, one of four standard colors available — is a local landmark listed as part of the area’s historic district, as it is one of only 10 Lustrons still standing in Maryland.
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I think there may be one in District Heights. A friend of mine owned a metal home. A real PITA to run phone wire for another outlet.