Meadowbrook

Wood Model of Meadowbrook which was almost identical to the Newport except it was two feet longer.
Wood Model of Meadowbrook which was almost identical to the Newport except it was two feet longer.

Meet the Meadowbrook

In late 1949, as the Lustron Corporation tried to overcome its slow start-up, it announced the new Meadowbrook model. Available in both a two bedroom (model 22) and 3 bedroom (model 33) version, the Meadowbrook was 2 feet longer and slightly more elaborate and expensive than the Newport, which was introduced at the same time. Both were aimed at a lower price point-about $2,000 less than comparable Westchester models-to be within reach of lower-end homebuyers. To do this, both the Meadowbrook and Newport came without some of the amenities included in the Westchester, such as the Thor dishwasher/clothes washer and the built-in vanity, bookcase, and china cabinet pass-through. In addition, they featured a traditional forced-air furnace that utilized vents and ducts, instead of the Westchester’s unusual plenum system. The furnace was mounted on the floor, rather than the ceiling, and heated air was circulated directly into rooms.

How to Spot a Meadowbrook…or Maybe Not.

A Peek Inside the Meadowbrook
A Peek Inside the Meadowbrook
Meadowbrooks, like Newports, are distinguished by their smaller size and their orientation: the gable end faces the front rather than the sides, as on other models. Appearing just months before the assembly line ground to a halt, few, if any, Meadowbrooks were built. A survey conducted by Thomas Fetters when writing his book, The Lustron Home, located no examples of either the 2 or 3 bedroom models.

Meadowbrook: Essentially the same as the low-budget Newport design, but 2 feet longer.

  • 2 Bedrooms (Model 022)
  • Dimensions: 25 feet by 31 feet
  • Total size: 775 square feet
  • 3 Bedrooms (Model 032)
  • Dimensions: 33 feet by 31 feet
  • Total size: 1,023 square feet

Sources:

“Six New Lustron Homes Introduced; Price of One Model Slashed $2,000,” Columbus Citizen, January 26, 1950.

Fetters, Tom. The Lustron Home: The History of Postwar Prefabricated Housing Experiment, 73.


One Response to “Meadowbrook”

  1. Gary Edwards Says:
    May 12th, 2010 at 11:25 am

    During the middle sixties our family lived in a lustron on the Quantico Marine base in Virginia. I was saddened to hear that they have all but been razed from the old neighborhood. Having googled “Lustron” I was surprised at how many hits showed up. On one of the sites they showed a Lustron that had to be only a block or so away from our house. I remember them as unusual but very servicable homes but my recollection of them was that they were bigger than they look now. No doubt from the fact that my childhood is fading into the distant past. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or merely wish to share your memories.
    ge34570@hotmail.com

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