The Futuro House

Long running French Lifestyle magazine Paris Match covers national and international news, local events, celebrity lifestyles and much more.

Issue #3078 from 051508 contains a short article on the Saint-Ouen Futuro accompanied by a single photograph. Given the date of the magazine the photograph must have been taken shortly after the Futuro was restored.




The September/October 2018 Issue of Playboy magazine included a multi page article on Teyana Taylor. The photo shoot for the article took place at Mark Haddawy's home, the Harpel House, which is of course also home to the LA Futuro. One of the photos that accompany the article features the Futuro.

This is the second time a Playboy issue has featured a Futuro; the first, an article titled "Portable Playhouse", was included in the September 1970 issue and on that occasion the Futuro was the subject and not just a backdrop.


The Futuro House inspired several very simlar projects over the years and one of them was the Tony Gilbert designed Aqaushel which could be described as a floating Futuro "look alike".

The February 1984 issue of Popular Science included a short article on the Aquashel. The article does not indicate whether Gilbert was inspired by the Futuro but it seems, based on the evidence, that we can assume that "beyond a reasonable doubt" (to use a term nore normally associated with the legal system).

The article tells us that Aquashel, much like Futuro, was designed for ease of production and transport, on site assembly and that it was constructed from 20 (unlike Futuro's 16) primary shell segments. Once you take that information and then take a look at a photo, for us at least, the Futuro influence is evident.

Aquashell cost between £40,000 and £60,000 so it was more costly than Futuro (though it was also some 10 or so years later) and was designed to be located on water rather than land.


Page 13 of the March/April 2003 issue of Preservation (The Magazine Of The National Trust For Historic Preservation) includes a short article about Wayne Donaldson's Idyllwild Futuro.

Donaldson purchased the San Diego Futuro and it was then moved to a temporary location for refurbishment prior to its final move to its current location in Idyllwild. The photograph that accompanies the article shows the Futuro at the temporary location prior to refurbishment (the Futuro is still finished in green at the time).


The Russian design magazine Projector featured an article about the Futuro House in Issue 18, 2012. The article spans 6 pages and features several photos. Of course we have no idea what the article actually says as the text is in Russian and this has been added to our growing list of items we will have to get translated at some point. The article can also be found online here.

One interesting take away from this article is a photo of a brochure which lists IFO Promotions as a contact for Futuro House information. We know very little about this companies involvement with the Futuro House; the only previous reference we have seen to it was in an answer by Karen Samples of the Cincinnati Enquirer to a readers question about the Covington Futuro.

We want to extend a big thank you to Mitya Kharshak, Founder and Editor-In-Chief of Projector Magazine, for sending us a copy of this issue of the publication.

The Futuro House also featured in Issue 29 (2015) of Projector.








We had always thought that the Los Angeles Futuro was the one that had been located in Bailey, Colorado until 2009 based on timing and photographic evidence but we could not be 100% sure.

In an interview on pages 420-423 of Issue 20 (Fall/Winter 2013/14) of the French Fashion Magazine Purple owner Mark Haddawy confirms that his Futuro is the Bailey unit and indicates he has spent the last four years restoring the unit after buying it in a (2009) "design auction".

The relevant interview question and answer reads as follows:

"OLIVIER ZAHM - Can you tell us about the '70s bubble house?
MARK HADDAWY - Matti Suuronen designed the Futuro house in 1968. I bought it in a design auction and had it moved to Los Angeles from Colorado. I've spent the last four years restoring it."

The interview is also accompanied by a couple of photographs that show the Futuro located on the hill behind the John Lautner designed Willis Harper House.






Issue #32 - The Cosmos Issue of the French Fashion publication Purple includes, on pages 452 through 457, an article titled "Living In A Bubble" which features the Futuro House and the Bolwoningen Community, a collection of 50 or so spherical houses designed by Dries Kreijkamp.

The text is brief and provides no new information regarding the Futuro but the article includes some great photos of the Los Angeles Futuro.

The publication is almost not a magazine, it is over 500 pages, hard cover bound and actually looks and feels much more like a coffee table book than a magazine.


In the 1/2011 Issue of Swedish magazine Riksettan there are three small sections that mention the Futuro two of which are reader's letters written in response to an article on Venturo and Futuro Houses in the 1/2010 issue of the publication.

In a reader's letter on page 60 Martin indicates that he works at Såtenäs. He goes on to indicate that some 18 months prior he had actually been up in the Futuro there and he reports that the unit remains in good condition. He also sent a photo, included in the magazine, of the Futuro at Såtenäs which he shot the day he wrote to the magazine; presumably sometime in 2011.

In a second reader's letter on page 61 Lennart Andersson recalls how at one time his company was considering the purchase of a Futuro but that never came to fruition. He also sent a copy of the postcard which shows the Ekå Futuro referenced in the "Finnish 20" article; we feel a quest coming on - that needs to be in our collection.

Finally, on page 92, in a section of the magazine about Venturo we find references again to the Såtenäs Futuro along with mention of the book PreFab Houses written by Arnt Cobbers & Oliver Jahn which features a Futuro on the cover and includes a multi-page chapter on Futuro.


Science and Mechanics was a cool little magazine that was started by writer, editor, inventor and entrepreneur Hugo Gernsback. Initially titled Everyday Mechanics, it became Everyday Science and Mechanics in 1931. In 1937 the name was shortened to Science & Mechanics and it was published until 1984 under that final title.

In the January 1970 issue of the magazine we find an interesting multi-page article on the Futuro House titled "Instant Leisure Home". The article is, unlike many we have seen, very forthright in its appraisal of the Futuro.

Among other comments criticisms were aimed at statements that the Futuro could accommodate eight people with the article suggesting four was a much more reasonable number (an idea we have to say we completely agree with), at the lack of storage, at the cost of transporting a Futuro and at the base cost per square foot. The article even described the kitchen and bathroom as being more akin to the galley and head on an airplane or boat.

Perhaps the most interesting statement though relates to planned Futuro production; we read that:

"Production was recently begun in the United States, with 10,000 units scheduled to be turned out here in 1970."

As we all know reality turned out to be a radically different from that lofty and ambitious goal.


Issue XIII 2018 of fashion magazine Stell included a multi-page shoot titled "Brave New World" that featured the Canberra University Futuro as a backdrop.








Suomen Kuvalehti is a weekly Finnish language family and news magazine published in Helsinki, Finland.

The 062571 issue of the publication includes a photo of the Pöytyä Futuro back in the early 70's when it was located in Luumäki. There is no obvious mention of the Futuro that we can see in the text but we do not yet have a translation so there may be information contained in the magazine that we have yet to "reveal".


Suomen Kuvalehti is a weekly Finnish language family and news magazine published in Helsinki, Finland.

The 110113 issue includes an article on Mika Taanila on pages 64-65. Taanila of course directed the film "Futuro: A New Stance for Tomorrow" and co-edited the iconic book "Futuro: Tomorrow's House from Yesterday" along with Marko Home.




Cycling publication Peloton Magazine describes itself as being "about racing and the joy of riding". The October 2017 issue carries a short article about Futuro which includes a couple of photos of the Saint-Ouen Futuro, one interior and one exterior.

The article includes a little general information and history but is perhaps most notable for something it got wrong as it suggests "the fact that they were devoid of showers and toilets made them simply impractical" was one of the reasons for the eventual failure of the Futuro. Futuro did of course include a toilet (for example the restored #001 at the WeeGee exhibition Center) and many examples also included a shower (for example the restored #000 in Rotterdam).


Suomen Kuvalehti is a weekly Finnish language family and news magazine published in Helsinki, Finland.

The 051112 issue includes a single page article on Futuro, specifically on Futuro #001 and its relocation to the WeeGee Exhibition center. The article is short and very general in nature. There is no new or particularly interesting information, and it is accompanied by a great photo of the Futuro being re-assembled at WeeGee.


The October 2017 issue of the German publication The Sammler Journal included a lengthy (8 page) article on the Munich Futuro. The article is accompanied by a number of nice photos.

We had hoped that such a long article might contain some new or particularly interesting information but sadly after putting it through Google Translate we found that was not the case. The article tells the history of the Futuro in more detail than many articles but the story it tells is well established and well known (at least in Futuro circles).

For the record these photos are from the digital version of this publication which was in this collection prior to acquiring this physical copy; seemed like unnecessary work to take photos of the physical copy to replace them.










Primitive Skills Magazine describes itself as "an independent study into the rituals, symbols, habits & habitats of surfers. Misuse of funds, distaste for authority, anti-social behavior, freedom of thought & other undesirable side effects of salt water to the brain."

Volume 4 2021 of the publication features an article about one Craig Robbins traveling the US visiting Futuros. The article describes Craig's trip as a journey to find all of the Futuro in the US. He does not quite accomplish that lofty goal but it is an impressive trip visiting a large number of Futuros nonetheless.

The article is accompanied by some great photos.

The September 1970 issue of Playboy Magazine featured one of the best known articles on the Futuro House, "Portable Playhouse", and may have been, at least in part, responsible for increased interest in the Futuro House in the US during the early 1970's.

There was even a Futuro House at the Playboy Club at Lake Geneva near Janesville, WI for a year. For more information on that see A Letter To Annabelle and the Janesville Futuro.




The Futuro House is one of several "Vacation Homes You Buy By Mail" discussed in an article published in the March 1970 issue of Popular Science. A photograph of Futuro #001, at the time located in Hirvensalmi, Finland and now at the WeeGee Exhibition Center, Espoo, Finland accompanies a short write up.

The article lists the cost of a "shell" at $10,000 and the cost of a fully equipped unit at $14,000. The article also includes one interesting fact we had not seen anywhere else; it states that the shell comes in 16 pieces and that "... a total of 704 pieces provides the built-in furnishings."

The "PS Buyers Guide To Vacation Homes" on Page 92 provides the following details for the Futuro House:

• Maker | Futuro Corp, 1900 Rittenhouse Sq., Philadelphia, PA 19103
• Primary Area | U.S. and Caribbean
• Construction | Squat fiberglass globe
• Form Offered | Builder-Erected, Finished
• Remarks | Flying saucer house, furnished and carpeted, may arrive by truck, barge or helicopter

The mention of the caribbean is interesting; though there are, as we all know, several Futuro Houses in the US we have never heard of one ever being in the Caribbean at any time. Presumably while the geographical area was licensed it was never exploited.




Private Magazine was established in Stockholm, Sweden in 1965 as the world's first full-color hardcore magazine by Berth Milton, Sr.

The 1970 Issue 17 included a 22 page story titled "The Goddesses Of Galaxia" about the (not unsurprisingly given the nature of the publication) sexual exploits of some rather attractive and very human looking aliens on Earth. A Futuro House is their "spaceship" and provides the backdrop for the "action".

The photography that accompanies the story is almost all entirely unsuitable for this website but a couple of pages are just about acceptable for display here and are shown below.








Update 030417

Looks like the photo of Turenki included in the Futuro article in this magazine is actually photoshopped to show the entrance and lower viewing windows. More information can be found here.

Original Information 020417

The Russian design magazine Projector featured an article about the Futuro House in Issue 29, 2015. The article spans 6 pages and features several vintage photos including photos of Dombai and Turenki.

Futuro also features in the cover graphics (repeated on the contents page; page 2) and page 1 includes a photo/graphic that relates to the exhibition Golden Generation. Modernism in Finnish Architecture and Design that ran 111415 through 013116 at the The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Of course we have no idea what the article actually says as the text is in Russian and this has been added to the ever growing list of things we will have to get translated at some point. The article can also be found online here.

The Futuro House also featured in Issue 18 (2012) of Projector.








The 1/2010 Issue of Swedish magazine Riksettan includes an eight page article on Futuro and Venturo Houses. Several Futuros are mentioned in the text and there are photographs of the Aland Islands, Orebro and Wanli units.

The article is largely the generic and standard Futuro commentary but there are a couple of interesting items. Among them this paragraph (translation by Google Translate):

"A Futuro became office in Solna. In Düsseldorf, Germany, it was used as the youth farm, on the Black Sea as homes, offices in England and in New Jersey (USA) as a bank."

The mention of Dusseldorf is interesting, we are aware of Charles Wilp's Futuro (now destroyed) that was located in Wittlaer, Düsseldorf but not of another unit in that area.

The Black Sea reference is almost certainly to the units purchased by Sputnik and the bank reference to New Jersey likely refers to the unit now in Willingboro, NJ.

The reference to units used as offices in England is also intriguing; we are aware of only a single unit in the UK, the now lost Todmorden Futuro, yet this uses the term "offices". We would probably have ignored that except for the coincidence of another reference to possible multiple Futuros in England coming up this week; see the Todmorden Futuro for details.

It is the Solna reference that is perhaps most interesting and there is other information relevant to this; the article also includes this photo and there is a suggestion that the Futuro in the photo is the one now located in Orebro and therein lies a "new" Futuro mystery. For more details see the "Finnish 20".










The January 2011 issue of Scenario Magazine featured a short article with a little general Futuro history and one image. The article was extremely general in nature and did not provide and new or particularly interesting Futuro history or information.

The one image was of a 1969 event we like to call "The Sandbox" wherein a series of Futuro models were set up in a "sandbox" environment and photographed. These photographs are often reproduced and are perhaps among the most "iconic" of all Futuro images.




The Autumn 16 issue (#51) of Berlin based fashion magazine Sleek includes an article about the retirement of Willie Walters, director of the fashion program at Central St. Martins. Craig Barnes "Futuro 22" is, at the time of writing, located on the Central St. Martins campus in London and one of the photos that accompanies the article shows Willie Walters standing out front of the Futuro.


The 7/2016 issue of Finnish publication Suomen Historian includes an article on Matti Suuronen which references Polykem, Futuro and Venturo.

The article includes several photos, among them a photo of Futuro #000 during its time in Turenki, a photo of Suuronen at the Polykem manufacturing plant and a generic interior shot of a Futuro.






Suomen Kuvalehti is a weekly Finnish language family and news magazine published in Helsinki, Finland.

Page 55 of the 102568 issue of the publication included a full page article on the 1968 exhibition Finnfocus aboard the ferry Finnpartner which had sailed to London, England and moored near Tower Bridge for the event. Onboard the Finnpartner was Futuro #002 (now located in Matsalu, Estonia). The article includes one photo of the Futuro with a large group of people "posed" in front of the Futuro.

The article is of course in Finnish and until we have the opportunity to get it translated we cannot say whether it contains any "new" information or who the group of people posing with the Futuro might be (though we suspect it may be a group of people associated with the exhibition; guides or "hosts" of some sort perhaps).


Suomen Kuvalehti is a weekly Finnish language family and news magazine published in Helsinki, Finland.

The 061512 issue contains a brief article on page 65 titled "Luomalle muotoilu-Helsonkiin" ("Creating Design For Helsinki" according to Google Translate) which briefly mentions the Futuro House. There are no photos.


Suomen Kuvalehti is a weekly Finnish language family and news magazine published in Helsinki, Finland.

In the 110113 issue on page 64-65 there is an article titled "Minimalismin murtajat" ("Breakers Of Minimalism" according to Google Translate) which briefly mentions Futuro and Matti Suuronen. There are no photos.


Sabato is a weekend magazine published by Belgian newspaper De Tijd.

The 013021 issue of Sabato included a short article (with a couple of nice photos) on the Joshua Tree Futuro under the heading "Must stay before you die".

We cannot understand the text and have not yet had a chance to get it translated though we doubt it includes any new information.

Our thanks to our good friend and fellow "Futuro Nerd" Yves who sent us a copy.






Private Magazine was established in Stockholm, Sweden in 1965 as the world's first full-color hardcore magazine by Berth Milton, Sr.

The 1970 Issue 17 included a 22 page story titled "The Goddesses Of Galaxia" about the (not unsurprisingly given the nature of the publication) sexual exploits of some rather attractive and very human looking aliens on Earth. A Futuro House is their "spaceship" and provides the backdrop for the "action".

Issue 37 (1974) included photos of two of the 1970 "Goddesses". The photos are unsuitable for display here.


The June 1969 issue of French publication Plaisir de France included a double page article on the Futuro House.

The text of the article is very general and does not include anything new to us or particularly interesting but there are some rather nice photos of Futuro #001 during its time in Hirvensalmi and there is also a photo (the top left one) of Futuro #002 during its time in Lahnajärvi, Finland (there is no indication of this in the article but the height of the support structure and the steps leading up to the entrance confirm the location).




We cannot seem to find out much about this magazine through online searches so all we know is what we see; a Finnish publication called "Se!" which we believe means simply "It!" that included an article that appeared to be Futuro related, at least in part, in its November 1992 issue.

The article is, we believe, titled "Mikojan Laskeutui "Ufolla" Mynämäelle" or, according to Google Translate, "Mikojan Landed On 'UFO' To Mynämäi".

Google Translate is an incredibly useful tool but it does sometimes have quite a struggle with the Scandinavian languages. That said it usually manages to provide enough of a translation to allow a basic understanding of an article. However with this piece we are honestly not too sure it even gave us that.

The article appears to be about an artist by the name of Boris Mikojan who either brought the Futuro to this location himself or simply used it for a time.

Though the location seen in the photo was new to us based purely on a first look it was immediately clear based on the unique (as far as we know) window configuration (a single row of three lower viewing windows) that it was a photo of the Futuro now located in Pöytyä. We visited Pöytyä back in 2015 and owner Kyösti told us during our visit with him that his Futuro had been "... previously in the yard of Mynämotel (Motel of Mynämäki) and the text of the Se! article confirms that the location we see in the photo is Mynämäki.

Other than a couple of uses of the term "UFO" (which frankly do not even seem to be tied to the Futuro) we cannot seem to find any reference to the Futuro in the text of the article at all. If we obtain any better information or a more accurate translation and there are any material changes to our understanding of the article we will of course update this page accordingly.




Futuro houses have appeared as the back drop for fashion shoots many times and another example can be seen in the January 2022 issue of the Japanese publication Spur.

We have no idea if the text mentions the Futuro or not but based on the photos the shoot clearly took place at the Maebashi Futuro.


UK based Shrunk magazine describes itself as "A modern miniatures magazine - Produced independently. Printed Quarterly."

The Summer 2022 issue (#5) of the magazine included a feature on the Wololow Futuro night light that is currently (as of the time of writing) the subject of an ongoing Kickstarter campaign.

The lamp features 7 different colors and 3 different lighting modes all controlled from a single switch. It has a run time of around 12 hours on a single charge and a magnetic charging port to make "fueling" simple.

If you want to get in on the action the Kickstarter campaign can be found here. The Wololow website can be found here.