Lustron House at 1200 Fifth Avenue
Why it's listed
This one-story, side-gabled ranch house at 1200 Fifth Avenue in Albany was built in 1949 by Hav-A-Home, the Lustron dealer for southwest Georgia. It is a Westchester Deluxe two-bedroom model of 1,085 square feet, one of 2,498 made by the Lustron Corporation and one of 22 built in Georgia. Gray porcelain-enameled steel panels cover the walls, dark green steel shingles cover the roof, and aluminum casement windows remain original. Inside, enameled steel panels, rounded corners, built-in steel furniture, a buffet pass-through and sliding pocket doors survive. The house was listed for its role in postwar prefabricated housing, a response to the severe housing shortage after World War II using enameled steel and dealer franchises. It was judged significant under architecture and engineering and was accepted despite being under 50 years old, because recent research gave enough information for objective evaluation. It sits on a corner lot with mature trees and shrubs.
Significance in brief: The house is presented as an intact example of the Westchester Deluxe two-bedroom Lustron model and of post-World War II prefabricated housing built from porcelain-enameled steel. It meets Criterion A for its link to postwar efforts to ease the housing shortage and Criterion C as an example of creative prefab design. Criteria Consideration G applies because it is less than 50 years old.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 96000214, listed March 18, 1996. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 1200 Fifth Ave., Albany |
|---|---|
| County | Dougherty County |
| Listed | March 18, 1996 |
| Reference number | 96000214 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1949 |
| Architect / builder | Roy Blass and Morris Beckman, Illinois architects who designed the prototype for the Porcelain Products Company (later Lustron Corporation); built by Albany Lustron franchise Hav-A-Home |
| Architectural style | Other: Lustron |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Engineering |
| Level of significance | National, State, Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still used as a single dwelling; the form says it retains complete structural and architectural integrity and was always used as rental property. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 31.59278, -84.17833 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 96000214.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q134297753
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.