Mount Vernon's Lustron home, on West Lamartine Street, will be rehabilitated over the next several months.
MOUNT VERNON – Seventy years to the day, the Lustron home on Lamartine Street in Mount Vernon was rededicated with a blessing by a descendent of the original homeowner/builder.
The Knox County Landmarks Foundation President Jeff Gottke started the ceremony with a brief recap of the history of the Lustron house, a World War II-era home made entirely of metal in Whitehall, Ohio. Approximately 200 remain in the state, with under 2,000 across the country and in South America.
The Mount Vernon home is unique in that it was the Westchester-style home, painted yellow, with a serial number of 2527, constructed all of metal.
"Originally, we wanted to move it. We talked to people and, 'How do you move that?'" Gottke said to the Mount Vernon News. "'It just unscrews, what's the problem?' Moving it wasn't an option.
"We're going to keep it here, where it's always been anyway, we don't want to sell it and we don't want to do a long-term rental type thing. We're going to try to keep a community asset. We're going to have everything totally redone, rehab it. We're going to try and furnish it in 50s kind of stuff."
Community partners are already getting involved, Cindy Sperry, the facilitator of the restoration, said. Richardson Glass was able to redo the glazing on the windows and has replaced several panes of glass. The Boy Scouts, Knox County Career Center students, and the Master Gardeners also want to contribute.
The bathroom of the Lustron house on Lamartine Street.
Linda Jonsson, left, reads the blessing that was read on Sept. 17, 1950, to bless her grandparents' Lustron home on Lamartine Street. Cindy Sperry, right, listens in, as Jonsson's voice cracked with emotion.
The make and serial number of the Lustron house on Lamartine Street.
From left; Landmarks Foundation President Jeff Gottke; Linda Jonsson, granddaughter of the original homeowners; and Landmarks facilitator Cindy Sperry.
Linda Jonsson shared her memories of her grandparents, Harold and Stella Bell, and time spent at Lustron house. A resident of Marion but a former resident of Mount Vernon, Jonsson shared family stories and the origins of the house.
"It was my grandfather, my father and my uncle that built, constructed, the house," Jonsson said. "My father had an engineering degree, and my grandfather had studied engineering at Denison. My uncle Bernard was a contractor in town. So between the three of them, they decided they could build and construct this house."
The home was built for Harold's wife, Stella, due to a medical condition that left her using a wheelchair.
"She dearly loved this house," Jonsson said. "I remember her telling me, 'Honey, if I ever leave this house I'm never coming back'; and she didn't."
Jonsson read a blessing that was read on Sept. 17, 1950, when the home was completed. Family members were able to tour the home and hear about the rehabilitation plans.
Gottke said they hope to have the work completed by the end of the year.
