Two of the first houses I wrote about when I started this blog in January of 2008 were the Futuro, known as “The UFO House,” and the groovy Venturo Modular Home. They were part of architect Matti Suuronen’s creative vision in the ’60s and ’70s for housing that could work in locations where it might be difficult to build. He had some interesting ideas, so his houses are still fun to look at today.
I was surprised to see that these have been two of my most popular posts lately, considering I wrote them over 3 years ago and haven’t thought about them much since then. Turns out there was a mention on the MSN Real Estate blog that sent thousands of readers this way. So thanks to Teresa for the shout-out! I thought I’d mention them here in case you–like 99% of my readers–missed them the first time around. You can read all about them here:
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Nuts! Completely nuts!
Although I do like that second picture. Especially with the water, the sand and the trees
And congratulations with your mention on the MSN Real Estate blog. I don’tknow that site but I guess I’ll have to check it out now
Wow.. This is…. odd??? LOL
Interesting to see it, though. I love seeing different things.
That’s so nice you were mentioned on MSN.
Have a wonderful day!
xo
Luciane at HomeBunch.com
Reminds me of the house on Signal Mountain in Chattanooga, TN.
http://timesfreepress.com/videos/2008/dec/14/1514/
Congratulations for being mentioned on the MSN Real Estate blog!!!
I’m not sure if that link is working correctly. It’s supposed to be to a video of the house. See if this works. The video is at the end of the article.
http://timesfreepress.com/news/2008/dec/15/signal-mountain-spaceship-house/
There is a UFO type house up in carlisle, Oh, near my mom’s house. Very cool.
Fun structures, the second one would be a lot of fun to have in such a location! Janell
These type homes are so fascinating. I would have loved to live in one while in college! We have one, in Chattanooga. It was up for sale just a couple of years ago, but is now a Vacation Rental. Here is the link, you might enjoy reading about it’s history.
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM26GZ
http://www.yesterland.com/futurehouse.html
Don’t forget the House of the Future from Disney….
Those are seriously funky! I can just imagine the jokes from friends and family if you owned the first one!
Thanks for sharing your links, Julia.
I love it when bloggers give us a look at older posts we might have missed before! Have a great day. 
Julia,
there was a Futura house used as part of a hair salon here in Sun Prairie WI. The small “strip mall” was called The Galaxie Plaza, built about 1975. The “space ship” was at the street corner end and was part of the salon. It was removed at least 10-15 years ago.
I think they look like a nice place to visit but not enough storage space to live there.
Rick
Whoa, takes me back. I grew up close to one of these UFO houses in Northern Michigan. We used to call it the “spaceship house.” Funny, even as a child I couldn’t figure out who would want to live where the room dimensions were so limiting.
I remember a house like this on the drive to my grandparents in Petoskey. I have always wondered about it! Do you remember where the one you saw in Michigan was?
Funny thing, we traveled to Snowshow WV for Spring break and some skiing, and saw a house very similar to Venturo there. How can you not notice it? It was right by the side of the road, with all these little modular type buildings attached, sort of like a string of them. Now I wish I had taken a picture
Yuck. So ugly. Sorry!
Those are some crazy looking houses Julia! But wow, amazing that you’re still getting some buzz about them. I should take a photo of this house close to my hood, it’s in the shape of a beehive, kind of.
Hugs to you!
-marie
I’d take the flying saucer house and kick back with old X-Files episodes, eating sunflower seeds for hours on end. Ha, ha!
These space age capsules would fit in today’s market, I do not think they would be out of place at all. The interiors still work today.
The 6o’s era is very popular and has a huge following so I would not discount these. Pods are back and you will see this design concept in houses and furntishings today in a modern context.
The time has come again, I think!
Those houses are a trip! It’s comical to see it set in such a rustic, idyllic setting. I love reading old posts, you have so much great content to pour through! That’s great that your site was mentioned on MSN, now even more people can come and fall in love with all things house related!
Very interesting and odd at the same time. I wouldn’t want to live in these houses, but they would be fun to stay in.
Interesting post. I wonder if the house a few miles from us is a Futuro? It looks very similar, it is turquoise and white but has long since been abandoned and has a dent on the side from being hit by a tree. I think it would be awesome to have as a vacation home, especially right on the side of a mountain or overlooking a lake.
If it had ample closet space, I would love that UFO.
This is Lina Melhem from Welt der Wunder Production Company in Germany,
We are interested in Futuro House and we would like to write and article about them. We only want you to allow us to use pictures for it and we would write the photographers\company name. As well as sending high quality pictures to us would be great.
Thank you very much.
Regards
Lina Melhem
lina.melhem@weltderwunder.de
Hi, Lina! I don’t own the Futuro photos and don’t have any high-quality photos of them. You’re welcome to use them as far as I’m concerned, but they belong to this site: http://www.podupnorth.com/.. Thanks!