Lustron Homes were designed to ease the housing shortage for GIs returning from World War II. They were built of porcelain enameled steel in a factory in Columbus, Ohio, and shipped on a modified tractor trailer, with the 3000 parts loaded in reverse order of installation. Only 2,492 houses were built between March 1948 and February 1950, when the company defaulted on its government loans. According to a 1984 article in Fine Homebuilding, "the company's demise was due to poor planning and inadequate distribution, not to bad design or low quality."

The house at 50 Petrova Avenue, Saranac Lake, NY, is a Westchester Model 02 (two-bedroom) deluxe, but the plaque with the model and serial numbers, which should be in the utility room, is missing. Exterior siding is tan, with cream trim and a dark blue roof, all porcelain enameled steel. Interiors are gray and yellow. Gendron's customized this Lustron house for Saranac Lake's cold, northern climate with extra insulation in the floor slab and original storm windows and doors. Lustron houses are extremely space-efficient, and deluxe models such as this one feature built-in steel kitchen cabinets, a pass-through buffet between dining room and kitchen, a bookcase and bay window in the living room, and a vanity and storage wall in one bedroom. Pictures are hung on the walls with magnets. Heat radiates down from the ceiling using the original Lustron distribution system, saving the floor space that radiators would take up. The kitchen stove is original, but the combination dish and clothes washer has been removed and a new kitchen sink installed.

The Open House held on January 11, 1997, repeats an event held in 1948 that some Saranac Lake residents still remember. Gendron Lumber in Saranac Lake was an authorized dealer for Lustron homes. This model home was the only Lustron Home built in Saranac Lake, though Gendron also built one in Ogdensburg and four on the east side of Sanborn Avenue in Plattsburgh. Gendron had sold many more, but was never able to build them because Lustron went out of business. Ed and Nita Worthington bought the model home, raised their daughter Janet Dudones here, and lived here the rest of their lives. In 48 years the Worthington's house has never needed painting indoors or out, just washing and waxing. As Ed once said, it was "just like owning a great big car."

Mary B. Hotaling, 1/10/97