Unique Des Moines homes: Lustron history
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Damian Thompson in his Lustron home in the Beaverdale neighborhood. Photos: Courtesy of Thompson
It may be 2023, but Damian Thompson still wakes up in the 1950s every day in his home in Beaverdale.
State of play: Thompson, a lifelong mid-century modern lover, bought a rare 1,000-square-foot Lustron home in May 2019.
- He's been busy getting it into shape ever since.
Flashback: Lustron homes are entirely steel dwellings developed post-World War II to provide veterans with a cheap, easy-t0-assemble home.
- They were meant to be homes of the "future" that could withstand weather and time.
- The company that made them declared bankruptcy in the 1950s.
Details: Thompson has kept everything vintage, all the way down to a 1953 air oven and a Frigidaire from the early '60s.
- The most difficult restoration was the furnace, Thompson says. Lustron homes have their furnace in the ceiling, allowing heat to radiate from the steel.
The intrigue: To put decorations up on the walls, Thompson uses magnets.
- "I probably have $500-plus in magnets," Thompson says.
His pro tip for vintage lovers: A midcentury modern piece of furniture here and there blends well with today's current pieces — even if your house isn't made of steel.
