Arlington’s famous Lustron house has gone home. This July, thanks to Arlington County’s donation of the house, the Ohio Historical Society will welcome visitors to tour the Lustron as part of its upcoming exhibit titled 1950s: Building the American Dream.

The museum is mostly likely the final destination on what has been a long, difficult, and fascinating trip for this particular Lustron house. Built between 1948 and 1950 in a Columbus, Ohio, factory, Lustrons are prefabricated, porcelain-enameled steel houses that were designed to meet postwar housing demand and revolutionize how houses were marketed and built. Of the more than 2,500 Lustrons that were built, Arlington once boasted 11 Lustrons, but only four now remain. Lustrons have been named to the National Register of Historic Places several times, and have been included on our previous Endangered Lists (most recently in 2009).

Back in 2006, the Lustron was in nearly mint condition when it was donated to the county and disassembled for future preservation. In 2008, it became the highlight of the Museum of Modern Art’s acclaimed exhibit on prefabricated housing, called “Home Delivery,” before it was disassembled and stored in a Chantilly, Va., warehouse. When no viable use could be found for it in Arlington, county staff arranged for its donation to the historical society, which also contains all the papers of the former Lustron Corporation.

For more on the Lustron’s MoMA experience, see this article published in Preservation Online.