Thomas Edison is best known for his contributions to the lightbulb -- but he dabbled in housing, too! In 1917, he invented and patented an innovative construction system to mass-produce affordable and durable homes made entirely of poured concrete.
Edison's invention of a single-pour system for concrete construction did not revolutionize real estate as he had hoped, but it cemented his legacy as a clever inventor.
This style of architectural design and building technology is mostly associated with the European avant-garde of the early 20th century.
However, many houses of Edison's are still standing in towns near West Orange, New Jersey, which was where his factory was located.
Now, it has been turned into a National Historic Park. There is even an example of Edison's concrete house on the park grounds.
"Edison's one-of-a-kind system was patented for the purpose of building a single, repeatable structure without any parts, with a single act of construction," said Matt Burgermaster, an assistant professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Edison established the Portland Cement Company in 1899. The company consistently came up with a number of improvements to the cement industry.
Yet, it still struggled to stay afloat. In 1922, it supplied the concrete for the construction of the Yankee Stadium, but it went bankrupt a few years later.
During this period, he cooked up a plan for building homes out of cast-in-place concrete. The inventor was motivated to create cost-effective homes for the working class.
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His early experiment in mass production was one of the first attempts to construct a building with just one material during the early 20th century.
The introduction of his patent read: "The object of my invention is to construct a building of a cement mixture by a single molding operation, all its parts, including the sides, roofs, partitions, bathtubs, floors, etc., being formed of an integral mass of a cement mixture."
The concrete houses were meant to be weather-resistant, fireproof, insect-proof, and budget-friendly for the average working-class family at $1,200 per house.
Edison saw his idea as a potential solution for cities with housing shortages. If successful, it would allow people to move from slums to new, inexpensive residential areas of poured concrete houses. He decided to donate the patented information to skilled builders to help with the issue.
Previously, Edison had experimented with reusable formwork molds in 1910. He built a small cottage and a garage at his mansion in New Jersey. However, this would be much more complicated to complete on a larger scale.
Each concrete house required a mold made up of about 2,300 pieces. A builder would also have to purchase at least $175,000 in equipment before casting a house.
Even though Edison tried to describe the homes as tasteful and sophisticated, people viewed them as cheap accommodations for slum dwellers.
Despite the lack of interest from the public, the company ended up building a few concrete houses around New Jersey and Polk Street, Gary, Indiana. Some of them have crumbled away, but others still stand more than a century later.