Lustron prefabricated house, "Surf Blue" model, The History Center collection.
Lustron homes are unique prefabricated enameled steel houses that were built in the United States only between 1948 and 1950 in response to a shortage of homes for returning servicemen from World War II and their families. These “maintenance free homes of the future” came in limited exterior color options. Both the exterior and entire interior of these homes were made of prefabricated metal. Just over 15 of these Lustrons were built in Cedar Rapids, and these two at 2003 and 2009 Williams Boulevard SW are the only ones built side by side in the city. The pale yellow Janda home at 2009 is on the National Register of Historic Places. Both were initially built along the new State Highway 149, later Business Route 151.
Mark W. Stoffer Hunter, Research Historian, The History Center
