Josephine Reifsnyder Lustron House, Historic residential house in Stillwater, United States
The Josephine Reifsnyder Lustron House is a residential home in Stillwater built from prefabricated enameled steel panels for both walls and roof. The compact structure contains two bedrooms and demonstrates the assembly method of these homes, with distinctive steel walls and roof components throughout.
The house was built in 1949 as a response to the post-war housing shortage and used steel as a material for quick and affordable production. This construction method was part of a larger effort to provide returning soldiers with accessible and economical housing.
The house shows how people embraced a new way of living after the war and accepted steel as a modern building material for homes. Visitors can observe today how this solution shaped the everyday life of its inhabitants and what residential living meant during that era.
The home sits on a residential property with a separate garage and can be viewed from the street. The steel construction and original details are visible from outside, giving a good sense of the building method and design.
The concrete floor of the home contains embedded pipes that distribute hot water to provide radiant heat throughout the building. This was an advanced heating method for the time, often overlooked by visitors despite being a daily comfort feature for residents.
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