Thomas Edison founded the Portland Cement Company in 1899. In 1917, he filed a patent to construct homes out of a single pour of concrete. The benefits of the material include being fire-proof, easy to clean, and affordable at $1200 per home. Edison donated his patent information to qualified builders in hopes of solving city housing shortages.
Made from a mold with some 2,300 pieces, a builder would need at least $175,000 of equipment just to get started, making a large scale operation that much more complicated. The general lack of interest in his idea didn't stop Edison. He built a few concrete homes in New Jersey that still stand today and his patent was used by contractors from U.S. Steel to build houses in Gary, Ind.
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