Irene Swanson sits at a table, covered in papers and black and white accent pieces; two white vases and a variety of black balls. Both the table and the house Irene lives in, 2601 Hunt St., seem exceedingly modern.

The interior of the house is brightly decorated in red, white and black. One bedroom is covered in red fabric and the bathroom is accented by a black and white flower-print shower curtain.

But Irene’s house is no ordinary Ames home. The kitchen cabinets are steel, the ceiling is steel and the walls are steel. Irene, widowed since 1987, lives in the only pre-fabricated porcelain enameled steel house in Ames — a Lustron home.

In an effort to find new homes for returning troops following World War II, the Lustron home was the idea of Carl Strandlund, according to “The Lustron Home” by Thomas T. Fetter. The company fizzled in February 1960 because the homes simply did not make enough money.

Irene, 89, has lived here since August 1953, and she said she has no intentions of leaving her home any time soon.

“I think it looks just as good now as it did then,” she said.

The 50-year-old home is eligible for the National Registry of Historic Homes, Irene said.

Finding The Dream Home

The Swansons first saw a Lustron home at the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago. The affordability of the home, $7,000 to $8,000 after a $50 down payment, impressed them. They became interested in owning a Lustron home in 1948 when they visited a model home in Des Moines.

The impression stayed with them until the family decided they needed a bigger home that year. Ed, who was working for Iowa State, had heard very good reviews of the model home from colleagues.

The young family sent the $50 deposit in and waited for the pieces of the house to arrive.

They bought a lot on Hunt Street for their new home.

“The lot was vacant and all these people used it as a baseball field,” Swanson said.

Neighbors were not welcome to the idea of their baseball field disappearing, she said.

“They all hated us,” Swanson said.

Until then the family had been living in university housing around campus.

“We lived on campus for I don’t know how many years,” Swanson said.

The couple lived on Ash until the Adelante fraternity house was built in 1942.

The Swanson’s didn’t get their Lustron home — the couple’s down payment was sent back, stating their desired home was not available.

In 1953, while having dinner in Des Moines, their luck changed. The Swanson’s were presented with an ad in the Des Moines Register.

Ed Swanson, Irene’s husband, immediately tried to call the man advertising a Lustron home unlike any other. The home in the ad was larger than the typical two-bedroom Lustron homes. It had three bedrooms and additional customizations.

Eventually Ed was able to reach the man and the Swansons had their dream home.

“We were the first call to get through to him,” Irene said. “Ed got up at 4 [a.m.] and drove to Norway, outside of Cedar Rapids, with $10,000 cash.”

The all-steel home began construction over Veishea weekend, 1953, with a crew of four men including Ed.

Swanson said the construction of the house couldn’t have happened during Veishea today.

“They’d come and steal [the pieces],” she said.

The home was laid down much like a puzzle, with 33,000 pieces. All of the pieces were intact, except for a small piece of glass in a window had been broken.

“I fed [the crew] and they stayed overnight,” Irene said.

The crew came for three weekends in a row and put together the house.

“[It] fit so carefully,” she said.

Living in the Dream Home

The Swansons moved into their home in August 1953. Irene and Ed were pleased with their modern home.

There was copper tubing, a dishwasher, lots of cupboard space, and plenty of room for the couple and their three children.

The custom Lustron also had a bigger kitchen and extra plugs around the home, and the heater was covered up nicely so it was out of sight.

“There’s not another Lustron home in the whole world like this,” Irene said.

Irene has not changed much to the house since it was first built.

“I think it looks just as good as then,” Irene said.

It has never needed re-roofing or painting done to it, she said. The exterior is just as it was in 1953.

“[It] is impervious to everything,” she said.

The only things that have been changed in the house are the addition of a window air conditioner, which was later replaced by central air conditioning, wallpaper in the kitchen and other small modifications.

Irene has decorated the house in modern fashion, she said.

She said she chose a modern interior style because Lustron homes were typically decorated with the normal 50s style furniture, which she refers to as “grandma’s furniture.” She wanted the house to look modern inside and out.

“I had grandma’s sofa, to heck with grandma’s sofa,” she said.

Irene said many other styles and colors work well with her home, like orange and black, the colors of Ames High School.

“Just take away the red pillows and we’re in business,” she said.

Christmastime is also a favorite time for Swanson’s grandchildren because of the Christmas lights reflecting off of the ceiling. She said her grandchildren also enjoy placing magnets around various parts of the house.

“It’s good with all [things], so many different holidays,” she said. “It was a long way ahead of it’s time.”

Demise of the Dream Home Builders

Despite it’s forward design, Lustron Corp. ceased production in 1950 because of debt accumulated to various financing companies.

The company struggled for ten years to pay back companies that had helped to fund Lustron.

Lustron had continuous battles with the Reconstruction Finance Corp. since 1949, according to “The Lustron Home.” The Reconstruction Finance Corp. was a federal agency that provided loans to manufacturers of factory-made homes, such as Lustron homes.

In the end, the company foreclosed with over $36 million in debts. In February 1960, Lustron shut its doors forever.

Swanson said she believes there were other contributing factors to Lustron’s demise.

“It was just too good a house,” she said. “They don’t want anything that lasts.”

Lustron homes were factory-made and therefore fairly easy to produce. Swanson said troubles may have arisen because they could not sell the homes as fast as they could be produced.

She said Lustron homes were also hard on some businesses because they did not need to be kept up or added onto like many homes.

“It never even needed paint on the roof,” she said.

Swanson said she believes Strandlund and his company could have continued to be successful for a longer period of time if Strandlund had more of his own money to fund Lustron.

“He really could have done it,” she said.