In 1941, the United States Navy was in great need of small structures that could be utilized as medical offices, isolation centers or bathroom facilities. They needed structures that could be quickly built, easily transported to the locations where they were needed,  and erected without the cost of skilled labor.

Very soon, Quonset Point in Rhode Island was manufacturing such structures, which they called Quonset Huts. The prefabricated lodgings were shaped like half-barrels, built of lightweight, corrugated steel. On the front and back sides of the elongated huts were plywood walls with doors and windows cut into them.

The interiors of the huts were lined with pressed wood and insulation. The floors were made of wood as well. The huts could be built as small as 16 by 36 feet, or as large as 40 by 100 feet.

About 170,000 Quonset Huts were constructed during World War II. Once the war was over, surplus huts were made available for the public to purchase. One Warwick man thought that buying such a unique little abode would be the answer to all his problems.

Ralph Charles Blanchard, a longtime employee of the United Electric Railway in Cranston, where he worked as a lineman, had been living with his family on Ridgeway Avenue in Warwick for many years. In 1947, the 42-year-old was informed that he had to move. The house he had been renting for so long was being sold.

Blanchard had no idea where to relocate his family, which included his 44-year-old wife Viola (Parker) and their five youngest children; Ralph, age 19; Eugene, age 18; Barbara, age 16; Norma, age 10; and Betty, age 9. Then he had an idea.

Blanchard owned a piece of land near the Oak Swamp, just off Hartford Avenue in Johnston. On April 24, he loaded his new Quonset Hut on a tractor trailer and set off for his land holding. By the time he arrived there,  the Johnston police and town officials had already gathered at the site. They had gotten wind of Blanchard’s plan and it was totally illegal.

They explained to the exasperated man that not only did he have no building permit for the property, the hut violated both the zoning laws and the building codes within the town. Blanchard was out of luck.

Here in 2021, with “tiny homes” becoming trendy, there has been a resurgence in the interest in Quonset Huts. It is estimated that purchasing and fitting out a hut to be completely livable can be done for as low as $30,000. Because of the durable materials they are constructed with, you can expect your hut to last for about a century.

But it’s still advisable to check your town’s building and zoning laws before packing your Quonset Hut onto a truck and heading toward a future which, like Blanchard learned, may be obliterated before it starts.

Kelly Sullivan is a Rhode Island columnist, lecturer and author.