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The Carlisle Lustron Home
The Lustron home if finally complete and ready for visitors. To welcome people in we have a photo exhibit by Carlisle photographer Mark True.
Wonderful photos he has taken from around the area displayed on our walls! Come visit.
Erin from Mid American Energy presents CAHS with a $5000.00 donation to the Lustron Project! We couldn't be ,more pleased to partner with Mid American Energy in the preservation of this unique home. This donation will go a long way towards the completion of our project! Thank you Mid American Energy and Thank you Erin. Hope to see you back for breakfast soon!
We are entering the next phase of the Lustron Project....reassembly!
Our neighbors have been very patient with us during this long winter. Work on the home was unable to proceed during the frigid temps and then our contractor got busy with another large project. Now that is almost complete he will be returning to our job and putting our house back together. Financial help is still needed to accomplish our goals. If you have thought about donating but haven't got around to it, please do so now. Plans are underway to recognize substancial donors. Wouldn't you like to go down in posterity as being a partner in saving history?
In addition to moving the house, we purchased the newer 3 car garage from the school. It was moved the following Monday and finally put onto the foundation on Tuesday. The frigid ems and darkness delayed the project overnight. This will add much needed storage and display space for the future while still allowing additional parking on the property. The old garage is in poor shape and it has not been decided yet if it will be repaired or demolished.
This is probably my favorite image of the big move. Taken by Phyllis Killen, it illustrates the frigid weather conditions we encountered in moving a Lustron Home through a small Iowa town. A bobcat was needed to clear snowbanks out of the way along the route (Thank you Tony Rhinehart!) We had a police escort who cleared traffic and the City Fire Dept/EMTS on hand in case of injury. Our city street employees were a tremendous help by clearing low hanging branches and sanding slippery streets. People came out of houses to watch and photograph the procession. We are very grateful to the Carlisle Community School District (previous owners and caretakers of this Lustron Home). The Lustron site was donated by Charles Peterson, countless people have donated funds and supported our fundraisers. Truly the whole town came together to make this happen, I couldn't be more proud of my hometown, Carlisle, Iowa!
We still have a long way to go to put the home back together and make it the showplace that it can be. Project costs are now up to about $60,000.00. Any help that you can give us would be greatly appreciated. We are a federally recognized non-profit. There is a Pay Pal button on our Home page or checks can be mailed to:
CAHS PO Box 137 Carlisle, IA 50047
January Update
The footings are poured! Plumbing and electrical services will be brought up and then the slab will go down. A few days of curing and more dirt work to build a ramp up onto the site will complete this phase of the project. The house has had the interior dismantled and is waiting for the final phase of the move. We are looking at a move date of Jan 26th! That is also the date of the next All you can eat breakfast! Hopefully everyone can come to the Randleman House and have a ringside seat for the move! Do not have an exact time yet!
We'll keep you posted. We are still seeking donations for this project. Bills are accumulating and we still need money to furnish and landscape the area. Please help. Every dollar counts!
December Update
Several hoops have been navigated in the ongoing project. We received the ok from the City Board of Adjustment for the final site plan. Neighbors had concerns about drainage and we are willing to whatever is necessary to make sure runoff does not create a problem. This may mean constructing a berm along the east side of the lot.
The footing have been poured and the slab will go in as soon as possible. We are looking at a move date sometime the week of Christmas. Expenses continue to rise. If you have not yet donated to this project CAHS would appreciate your consideration.
All donations are fully tax deductible. Every dollar counts!
Please mail checks to PO Box 137 Carlisle, IA 50047 or there is a Pay Pal button on our donate page. See above. Be aware that Pay Pal does keep a portion of your donation.
October 25 news
The rain has delayed the work on the site for the Lustron Home. Dirt work is finally (almost) complete. The last step will be building dirt ramps leading up onto the slab to enable the mover to back the house up onto the site but that cannot happen until after the footings and slab have been poured. The delay moves our window for moving the house to the third week of November. Actually that may be beneficial as the ground should be firmer then!
Donations and pledges toward the project amount to over $18,000. but a significant amount more will be needed.
We have set levels of giving for those who would like to donate or pledge. Please donate today to ave this iconic home for future generations.
Use the Pay Pal button on our donation page or mail check to CAHS P.O. Box 137 Carlisle, IA 50047
Friend $1-$499
Partner $500-$999
Advocate $1,000-$4,999
Benefactor $5,000-$9,999
Sponsor $10,000 and over
UPDATE!
The old house is gone. The site has been prepped and is ready for the slab to be poured. The Lustron House interior walls are being dissembled to prepare for the move.
Tentative date for the move is October 29th but we are expecting rain for the next several days and this may delay the project.
To date we are about 1/2 way to our fundraising goal. Donation and pledges have come in totaling over $17,000 but some costs are difficult to estimate. How many man hours to remove the needed interior panels? Will that go smoothly? How about the reassembly, the panels are 70 years old and may be difficult to put back. Costs could go over the anticipated budget and we need your help. There is a PayPal button on our Donate page or you can mail checks to P.O. Box 137 Carlisle, IA 50047.
Carlisle is home to a unique post WWII home that is becoming rarer every day. The Lustron Corporation designed the all steel, pre-fab home as an answer to the GI housing crises that occurred after the war ended. GIs came home, married their sweethearts and started families but few homes had been built over the war years and housing was in short supply.
A Lustron Home could be sent on a truck from the factory and erected on a slab in as little as two or three days. Each home was made up of a series of panels that are bolted together. All enameled steel they are rust proof, pest proof homes that could last forever! Think about it. No maintenance except a simple wash down with the garden hose. No roof repair. No painting! Truly the home of the future.
Unfortunately due to some bad business decisions and the economics of the times the company went out of business after producing only about 4000 of the remarkable homes. Fewer than 2000 are left world-wide and many are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Only three exist in Warren County.
This Westchester model #00864 was erected by Cloy Waters in 1948. The home was later occupied by Corda James, Scott James grandmother. She lived there for many years. The house sits at 210 School Street. You have probably driven past it numerous times without even knowing its history. Currently it is owned by the school system and they need to have to space for future expansion. It is being donated to the Carlisle Area Historical Society but must be moved. If we do not save it then it will be destroyed. Thanks to Pete Peterson we have an area on our campus where it can be placed. The house on the corner of 2nd and Penn will be burned later this month. Then work needs to be done on the site. We will also need to hire a company to move the home. All told this project could cost upwards of $30,000 and would be a unique addition to our complex and a feather in the cap of our small town to have this one of a kind home. We need your help. Donate today by mailing a check to CAHS P.O. Box 137 Carlisle, IA 50047 or clicking the PayPal button on our donate page. We are a federally recognized non profit and all donations are fully tax deductible. Look for upcoming fundraising events and other ways you can help.