It wasn't until the post World War II-era that "cribs" returned to its original meaning, which, if you remember, was "a small dwelling."
As the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang notes, the word was primarily used in African-American Vernacular English.
The first post-war reference to "cribs" as homes came in the iconic Dan Burley's
Original Handbook of Harlem Jive (the source of many other popular words and phrases). As Burley wrote in one verse:
" 'Twas the night before Nicktide, and all through the crib
You could hear Joe Hipp spieling that righteous ad lib."
Following the publication of Burley's handbook, references to cribs became much more popular in novels and short stories by African-American writers. By 1958, the word was common enough that it was included in Langston Hughes and Arna Wendell Bontemps'
The Book of Negro Folklore. The pair defined a crib as "[a] house, home, where you can not only hang your hat, but raise hell."
Given that "crib" was used to describe a place where illicit activities took place for most of the early history of the word, it's kind of funny that the word is now associated with opulence and wealth.
Not bad for a word that used to refer to a hovel.