Newport

Meet the Newport

Lustron Promotional Brochure Featuring Newport
Lustron Promotional Brochure Featuring Newport

When the Lustron Corporation sought financing to build its factory, it estimated the cost to produce a house at around $4,000. Factoring in variable costs of transportation, and site acquisition and improvement, the house would average about $6,500, competitive with comparable houses built the traditional way. By the time Lustron actually began producing houses, though, the factory’s unit cost had risen by thousands of dollars, escalating the cost of a completed house to more than $10,000-a level only middle-class buyers could afford. Critics pounced on this change. In response, Lustron introduced the Newport and the slightly larger Meadowbrook late in 1949.

A Happy Newport Owner
A Happy Newport Owner
The 2 bedroom Newport hit the target price of $4,000 from the factory. Like the Meadowbrook, the Newport came in both a two bedroom (model 22) and 3 bedroom (model 33) version. A Lustron advertisement praised the Newport as “compact, trim, and beautifully proportioned.” It added: “Newport Homes are designed for families with limited budgets, but unlimited appreciation for the niceties of life! They place the finest, most modern living facilities within reach of almost everyone who can afford ANY type of permanent home construction.” A distinguishing feature of the Newport and the Meadowbrook is their orientation: the gable end faces the front rather than the sides, as on other models. Another difference is the heating system. Newports came with a forced-air furnace that utilized vents and ducts, rather than the Westchester’s unique plenum. Heated air was circulated directly into rooms. Instead of mounting the furnace on the ceiling, as it was for the plenum system, it stood on the floor. To cut costs, Newports came without the Thor dishwasher/clothes washer and built-in vanity, bookcase, and china cabinet pass-through.

Newport: Smaller-and therefore less expensive-than the Westchester, this model has only two windows per side. The 2 bedroom house does not have the indented porch that appears on the 2 bedroom Westchester.

  • 2 Bedroom (Model 023)
    • Dimensions: 23 feet by 31 feet
    • Total size: 713 square feet
    • Features: The roof ridge is on the shorter dimension; in other words, the end of the gable faces the front, rather than the side.
  • 3 Bedroom (Model 033)
    • Dimensions: 31 feet by 31 feet
    • Total size: 961 square feet
Presenting the Lustron Newport 2 and 3 Bedroom Homes, brochure produced by the Lustron Corporation, n.d.Fetters, Lustron Home, 73.


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