What’s your dream home?
For a lot of people these days, the answer is “something I can afford.” 75 years ago, it was this type of demand for starter housing that led to the creation of the Lustron House: These tiny prefab homes can still be found scattered throughout neighborhoods in the Midwest. What made them so popular is what makes them so easy to spot: They’re made completely of pastel enameled steel panels.
In the latest Under Rocks podcast, our team got themselves invited to Cindy and Larry Mein’s quirky-yet-practical metal home in Mt. Morris. Rockford architect Ashley Sarver and Lustron Home expert Val Olafson tagged along.
Thanks to Cindy and Larry Mein and their landlord John Lindhorst for sharing their Lustron home. And thanks to Val Olafson and Ashley Sarver (Studio GWA) for sharing their expertise.
Find a Lustron near you, thanks to this interactive map!
Got something intriguing the rest of us should know about? Something quirky, unusual, and fun in northern Illinois/southern Wisconsin? Tell us about it at rocks@niu.edu.
Under Rocks is produced at Northern Illinois University in the studios of WNIJ. A new episode drops every third Thursday of the month.
