The Futuro House

The September 1968 issue of the Finnish publication Tekniikan Maailma includes a multi-page article that references the Futuro House.

Tekniikan Maailma (or "Technology World" according to Google Translate) is, according to Wikipedia "one of the leading automobile magazines ... in Finland, and the biggest all around technology magazine in Scandinavia". It was first published in 1953.

The article spans, we think, pages 58-65 and is titled "Asuntotuotanto Kuplii" or "Housing Bubbles" according to Google Translate. The magazine's cover art also features the Futuro. The article is lengthy and to date we have not had the time to type it into Google Translate so we have no idea what it says or even if it is specifically about the Futuro or more general in nature.

The word Futuro itself cannot be found in the article but given the date of the magazine, September 1968, this is not surprising; as we know the Futuro first received that name following the October 1968 Finnfocus Export Fair held in London, England.










The UK based Manchester Modernist Society publication The Modernist describes itself as "a quarterly magazine about 20th century architecture & design".

Issue #16 Experiment published in September 2015 includes an article on the Futuro House written by "yours truly".

The article is a brief history of Futuro with an extra focus on Futuro in the UK in the latter sections.

Our thanks to Dan Birch and Brian M. Carr who contributed photos for the article and to Eddy Rhead who invited us to contribute to the magazine; it was a new and interesting experience.

And for the observant among you yes - there is a somewhat embarrassing typo in, of all places, the article title which sadly reads "Futoro House: Visions Of A Future Past". We would love to blame the publisher but we cannot completely do so since we traced the typo back to an initial draft we had sent "across the pond". Hopefully it does not detract too much from the article.






Automobile magazine Tuulilasi has been published in Helsinki, Finland since 1963. Issue 6 of 1972 included a very short piece on Futuro along with a single photo of the Pöytyä Futuro during its days in Luumäki. According to Google Translate the text translates to something like:

"A flying saucer or ufo has landed on the highways. At this moment, at least they are firmly anchored to the ground. Another of the UFOs is located on the highway 1 at Lahnajärvi, a cafe / restaurant in Palax. The second ufo is on the highway 6 in Luumäki. It also serves road users as a cafe building."


Usbek & Rica is a quarterly French Magazine that describes itself as "Le magazine qui explore le futur" or "The magazine that explores the future".

Issue #25 (Winter 2019) of the publication contains a two page Futuro article. There is a single very short paragraph of text with a little general history and photos of some 15 or so Futuro locations.




Japanese publication Vintage Life showcases all things "retro" and Issue #11 (Autumn 2014) includes a short article on the Saint-Ouen Futuro on page 173 (text in Japanese though oddly most article titles/headers are in English) accompanied by a pair of photos and a couple of small drawings.


Issue #21 (October 2003) of Weird N.J. features an interesting article on the process of transporting the Greenwich Futuro to its current location. The article is accompanied by some very cool photos of the Futuro during the journey across New Jersey.

It is interesting to note that one of the photos appears very similar to a photo in the book Weird Maryland but it is not captioned there and the Greenwich Futuro is not mentioned in the book. the photos are not identical but one (the one in the magazine) is almost certainly a cropped version of the other.

This article provides some interesting pointers as to the whereabouts of the Futuro prior to Greenwich.


The magazine Weird N.J. certainly lives up to it's name, we doubt there are many quite so eclectic magazines out there. Having said that it does make for an interesting read and, should you ever be visiting New Jersey, it might even provide a few pointers as to things to do and see.

Page 15 of Issue # 22 (May 2004) features three short Futuro articles accompanied by three photos:

• A little general Futuro history along with a photo of a page from the 1971 "Last Whole Earth Catalog" which features some original sales information including advertising the Futuro for $10,000 for just the shell or $14,000 fully equipped.
• Some historical information about the Futuro that was a part of an amusement ride at Morey's Pier from the early 1970's until the mid 1980's. That Futuro was later located in Seaside Heights, NJ.
• A short piece about the Futuro located in Willingboro, New Jersey along with a photograph.

The homepage on the publication's website tells us that "in 1968 Stewart Brand launched an innovative publication called The Whole Earth Catalog. It was groundbreaking, enlightening, and spawned a group of later publications." On the website most of the publications are chronicled and in many cases digital full text versions are available. The purpose of the publications is explained this way:

"We are as gods and might as well get good at it. So far remotely done power and glory - as via government, big business, formal education, church - has succeeded to the point where the gross defects obscure actual gain. In response to this dilemma and to these gains a realm of intimate, person power is developing - power of the individual to conduct his own education, find his own inspiration, shape his own environment, and share his adventure with whoever is interested. Tools that aid this process are sought and promoted by the WHOLE EARTH CATALOG."

The Whole Earth Catalog is probably not something you would sit down and read like a book but its eclectic and diverse content can be an interesting read in small doses and in among it all we find, on page 19, a short article on the Futuro House. The article is essentially a list of specifications with a couple of photos, pricing and contact information for the US Distributor.




This was the second of two issues of The Whole Earth Catalog we purchased; the other was the Fall 1969 Issue and there is a little background on the publication in the narrative for that issue so we will not repeat it here.

In this issue there is a short article on the Futuro House on page 21. The article is essentially a list of specifications with a couple of photos, pricing and contact information for the US Distributor. The article in this issue is almost identical to the one on page 19 of the Fall 1969 Issue.




Futuro owner Nick McQuoid recently posted photos of this magazine to his Instagram and when we saw it we just had to find a copy for this collection - and so here it is!

The publication, World Of Wonder Issue 91 121871, features art work on the cover and inside of the Futuro House along with commentary in an article titled "Up She Goes!" about future trends in housing.

The July 1973 issue of the Finnish publication Tekniikan Maailma includes a multi-page article about Casa Finlandia.

Tekniikan Maailma (or "Technology World" according to Google Translate) is, according to Wikipedia "one of the leading automobile magazines ... in Finland, and the biggest all around technology magazine in Scandinavia". It was first published in 1953.

The article spans pages 107-109 (thougth page 108 is just an unrelated full page ad) and includes photographs of the Futuro House (one exterior shot, an often used photo of Futuro #001 when it was located in Hirvensalmi, and one interior shot) along with a photograph and a couple of drawings of the CF-45 Venturo. The article text contains several references to Futuro but to date we have not had the time to enter it all into Google Translate to see what it actually says.


Teknikens Värld is, according to Wikipedia, a leading motor magazine published in Stockholm, Sweden. On page 26 of the 051768 issue there is a short paragraph on Futuro accompanied by a single photo. The photo is almost certainly of a unit at the Polykem manufacturing plant based on the appearance of the photo itself and the date of publication of the article.

The Futuro, as would be expected given the date of publication, is not actually referred to as such; it is described as a "summer house".


Texas Highways, published monthly by the Texas Department of Transportation, styles itself as "the travel magazine of Texas". The October 2017 issue included a single page article on the Royse City Futuro accompanied by a single photo.


The Futuro House had made an appearance in two previous issues of the iconic Whole Earth Catalog series; it can be seen in the Fall 1969 and Spring 1970 issues. The article that appeared in the two previous issues was the same but in this version of the Catalog there is a condensed version; the content that is there is the same but there is less of it.


Issue 6/12 of Finnish magazine TM Rakennus-maailma features a multi-page article about the Futuro House on pages 96-102.

The article is in Finnish so we are unable to read it but based on the subjects of the many photographs that accompany the article it appears to be about the restoration of Futuro #001 which was originally located in Hirvensalmi, Finland and is now part of the collection of the WeeGee Exhibition Center in Espoo, Finland.




Finnish publication Ultra was founded in 1972 as Ufoaika and changed its name to Ultra in 1976.

Ultra could be characterized as a "fringe publication" that addresses such subjects as parapsychology, paranormal phenomena and UFO's. The cover of issue 6/1990 features a photo of Futuro #001 in Hirvensalmi.

According to Google Translate the photo is captioned "ufo descends in the summer to Kotka", presumably a reference to the exhibition "Radar" of that same year which took place in Kotka, Finland.

Radar featured works by 16 artists and among them was Helsinki born Jussi Kivi. Kivi's contribution to Radar was the installation "The Eagle Has Landed - Unidentified Flying Object - An Exhibition About UFOs".

Kivi's installation consisted of two containers containing various UFO related paraphernalia along with Matti Suuronen's original prototype Futuro #000 (not the Futuro appearing on the magazine cover) rented for the purpose. More information about Radar and "The Eagle Has Landed" can be found here.

There is no "evident" mention of the Futuro inside the publication but likely we just missed it as there is no photo and the text is in Finnish.


Vanity Fair's January 2012 issue featured a single page article on the Los Angeles Futuro. The article is dominated by a very cool night time shot of the Futuro.

The text is brief and relates a little general commentary about the Futuro House and the 2009 purchase at auction (for $50,000) of this particular Futuro by current owner Mark Haddawy.


VSD is a publication described by Wikipedia as being "a French weekly news, celebrity and leisure magazine, published on Thursdays in France".

Issue #1600 (23-29 April 2008) carried a 4 page Futuro article titled "La Maison Futuro - Un Ovni Dans La Ville" or, translated "The Futuro House - A UFO In The City".

The first two pages carry only the title and a brief introduction superimposed on a photo of the Futuro located at the Philadelphia International Airport in 1969, the first Futuro to be seen in the USA.

The article itself is spread over pages 70 & 71 and, though it does appear to detail some general Futuro history, it is primarily about the Futuro brought back to Paris from the French countryside around the time the article was published (this Futuro is of course now located in Saint-Ouen). That said we have not yet had the article translated and so there may very well be more to the article that we can determine with our very limited understanding of the Franch language.

The article is accompanied by several photos, mostly of the Saint-Ouen Futuro including shots of it back in its CNIT days, as it appeared in the French countryside for many years and as it appeared right after the restoration that brought it back to Paris.

There is also a vintage interior photo (likely from early Futuro marketing materials) and a photo of the delivery of the first US "Spacebank" to the Woodbridge Mall in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey on 060272.






Issue #23 (October 2004) of the magazine Weird N.J. features a captioned photo of the Frisco Futuro and a short article which references the two Delaware Futuros (Milton and Houston) and recounts the author's encounter with them during a trip; the article is accompanied by a photos of both Frisco & Houston.

It is interesting to note that this article which references two Futuros in Delaware appears in a magazine all about New Jersey and also appears in the book Weird Maryland.


In 1971 an exhibition that featured many portable and plastic house designs took place in Lüdenscheid, Germany. Among the structures displayed at the Internationale Kunststoffhaus Ausstellung der Welt or IKA was a Futuro.

Issue 1/1972 of German publication X Magazin für Naturwissenschaft und Technik (X Magazine for Natural Science and Technology) included an article on the IKA on pages 44 through 47; the article is accompanied by multiple photos including one exterior and one interior Futuro shot along with a shot featuring multiple structures that includes a Futuro (a print of that photo from the Baltimore Sun archives can be found here).






The May 2011 issue of the magazine Weird N.J. contains a very short article about the Greenwich Futuro on page 9. The article is reader submitted and is accompanied by a single photo.


A Futuro House was exhibited during the C70 festival in Rotterdam, Netherlands which ran from 050570 through 100370. The October 1970 of the publication Wonen Nu features a great photo of this on the cover and includes Futuro twice inside the magazine.

First there is a photo and a brief description on the contents page and then on page 21 a longer article with a little general information and an interior photo. Most interesting perhaps is mention of a manufacturing facility in Rumbeke, Belgium and a price of ƒ45,000 excluding shipping (which is estimated at ƒ4,500). The article calls the structure a "Futuro-Bungalow".