If you drive down Nicollet Avenue between 50th and 51st streets, look up the hillside yards and look at the houses, you’ll see your average South Minneapolis stuccos and tudors; you’ll also spy others that are a bit unusual. These mid-century houses, which don’t exactly fit in to the area’s overall aesthetic, feature aluminum windows, a unique cutout corner entrance accented by a vertical zigzag, and exterior colors including dove gray and surf blue. Unlike most home exteriors, however, those of the Lustron houses might dazzle you by reflecting the sun off their square-shaped enameled-steel panels that comprise the exterior.
Built between the years of 1947 and 1950, the Lustron (a word which combines luster and steel) houses were conceived of as a solution to the housing shortage created by the return of WWII vets. The components of the houses—over 30,000 of them—were fabricated in a massive factory in Ohio, then shipped by truck across the country to customers to be assembled. Twenty were built in Minnesota; a handful are scattered throughout the Twin Cities, several of which are located on the 5000 block of Nicollet Avenue.
This 2011 video, courtesy of MinnPost, gets you inside one of these historical gems, with owner commentary about the home’s quirks (you need a lot of magnets to hang things on metal walls, and radiant heat that originates in the ceiling isn’t terribly effective in Minnesota’s climate).
(Video courtesy of MinnPost)
Begun in the early 2000s, the Lustron Preservation Society offers an abundance of information about the homes, from featured houses and a searchable database of locations, to floor plans and historic images. Most importantly, the site gives innumerable resources to help owners maintain and preserve these historic homes—because even the maintenance-free home of the future needs a little love to keep in tip-top shape.
Angela Anderson, Realtor, Results Support Services: EMAIL--BIO
Licensed Associate Working with Sharlene Hensrud of RE/MAX Results, and HomesMSP--Sharlene, John, Angela
