The Doit W. McClellan Lustron House is a historic enameled steel

Vitreous enamel

Vitreous enamel, also porcelain enamel in U.S. English, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C...

 prefabricated house in Jackson

Jackson, Alabama

Jackson is a city in Clarke County, Alabama, United States. The population was 5,228 at the 2010 census. It is one of three wet settlements in an otherwise-dry county.-Geography:Jackson is located at coordinates . According to the U.S...

, Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

. Designed and constructed by the Lustron Corporation

Lustron house

Lustron houses are prefabricated enameled steel houses developed in the post-World War II era United States in response to the shortage of houses for returning GIs...

, this example is one of two in Jackson. The other, the J. P. McKee Lustron House

J. P. McKee Lustron House

The J. P. McKee Lustron House is a historic enameled steel prefabricated house in Jackson, Alabama. Designed and constructed by the Lustron Corporation, this example is one of two in Jackson. The other, the Doit W. McClellan Lustron House, is just around the corner from the McKee Lustron.Lustron...

, is just around the corner from the McClellan Lustron.

Lustron houses were only produced during a two-year period, with 2,495 known to have been made. Only roughly 2,000 of these are still in existence. Many of those that do remain have been altered significantly. Twenty Lustron houses are known to have been ordered in Alabama, although it is not clear if twenty were erected. Only eleven remained in 2000. Architectural historians with the Alabama Historical Commission

Alabama Historical Commission

The Alabama Historical Commission is the historic preservation agency for the U. S. state of Alabama. The agency was created by an act of the state legislature in 1966 with a mission of safeguarding Alabama’s historic buildings and sites. It consists of twenty members appointed by the state...

 believe that the two in Jackson may have been the first erected in the state.

The house forms part of the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

' Lustron Houses in Alabama MPS. It was placed on the National Register on February 24, 2000, due to its architectural significance.

History

Both of the Lustron houses in Jackson were erected in 1949 by a local Lustron dealer, J. P. McKee of McKee Construction Company. An open house for both Lustrons was held beginning on April 16, 1949. As of 2000, the exteriors of both houses were in near–to–original condition. Both were being utilized as rental properties.

Architecture

The J. P. McKee Lustron House is an example of Lustron's "Westchester" 2-bedroom model. It retains the original enameled steel roof, wall panels, and "zig-zag" support column. Lustron houses came in four exterior colors, the McClellan Lustron is in the company's "Dove Gray" color. The panels have since been painted over and changed to white.