Hooked on Houses

Remember the groovy Venturo Modular Home I showed you recently? Meet its predecessor, the Futuro, which was designed by the same forward-thinking Finnish architect Matti Suuronen in 1968. Whereas the Venturo promoted a “come for the weekend in your orange bikini” kind of lifestyle, the Futuro was more “come for the weekend in your silver space suit.”

Suuronen designed the Futuro when he was commissioned to create a modern ski cabin. It was built out of fiberglass-reinforced polyester plastic and was light enough to be lifted to remote sites by helicopter, where the steel legs could adjust to any terrain.

Only 96 were ever built, and only 16 are in the U.S., so this is a rare sighting of one in Wisconsin (it’s a vacation rental, so if you want, you can experience it first-hand).

I can only imagine what some unsuspecting hikers must think when they come across this spaceship in the woods. And then the hydraulic hatch door opens and the stairs slowly descend….

The interior of the Futuro was fully furnished and could accommodate eight people. Partitions could be used to create separate spaces for sleeping, and the seats in the living area converted into beds.

Here’s a happy Futuro family hanging out in the built-in seating area of the living room, above (do you think the kids have Tang in those cups?), and a mod mom cooking up something in the streamlined kitchen, below:

Here’s the inside of the Wisconsin Futuro’s kitchen today, which is much less colorful (I wonder if these cabinets used to be red, too?):

Check out the cool purple fireplace, below. And the mom’s white go-go boots:

Here’s a photo of a Futuro living room with a similar fireplace in it today (sadly, this one isn’t purple, and it’s hard to imagine anyone wearing white boots in here):

The Futuro House website explains that the Futuro house was short-lived because the high oil prices in the early ’70s sent the price of plastic skyrocketing, adding, “I personally think it was the lack of closet space which really turned off most women…and of course the men could not convince them that this was a wise purchase.”

I don’t know. If my husband wanted to buy one that still had that red kitchen, blue living room, and purple fireplace, I might be persuaded to park one in the backyard. How about you?

For more photos and information about the Futuro:

• Futuro B&B in Wisconsin
• Futuro House Website
• ArcSpace Site with Photos
• Greetings, Earthlings! A wild site for Futuro fanatics
• Great Article on the Futuro
• YouTube Video about the Futuro
• A Fun News Report on Futuros with Interior Tours

If You’re Hooked on Famous Architecture:

• Frank Lloyd Wright’s William P. Boswell House
• Matti Suuronen’s Mod Venturo House (Orange Bikini Not Included)
• Author and Architect Sarah Susanka Stopped By and Had a Few Things to Say
• Stickley Furniture: a Primer
• Vera Wang’s Oceanfront Villa in Palm Beach, Designed by Addison Mizner
• Reese Witherspoon’s Country Home in Ojai, Designed by Wallace Neff