Lustron: The House America's Been Waiting For (2004)

Just after World War II, America faced the worst housing shortage in its history, as millions of GIs returned to civilian life. President Truman appointed a national Housing Expediter to solve the crisis. The government's plan was to foster a new industry: prefabricated or manufactured (factory-built) housing. A celebrated engineer and inventor named Carl Strandlund then came to Washington with a bold proposal: he would construct houses out of the same type of porcelain-enameled-steel panels he used to build gasoline stations and White Castle restaurants. His Lustron ranch-style house was rot-proof, vermin-proof, never needed painting, had about 1000 square feet of floor space, cost much less than 10,000 dollars, and could be erected on-site in less than a week. The federal Reconstruction Finance Corporation loaned Strandlund millions of dollars to convert an old aircraft factory in Columbus, Ohio to Lustron production. But political machinations, financial difficulties, government corruption, and negative press doomed his company and his plans. Only about 2,500 Lustrons were ever built, many of which still stand today.