Here’s an amazing time capsule house, first spotted by Retro Ruth of No Pattern Required: The 1964 Dome House in Midland, Michigan — now for sale for the first time since it was built by the original owners, architect Robert Schwartz and his wife Barbara. Robert Schwartz was a student of Buckminster Fuller, father of the geodesic dome. According to this informative story in the Midland Daily News, which gave me permission to feature a few of their photos:
The shell of the house is made of foam — Styrofoam, manufactured by The Dow Chemical Co., which furnished the foam in exchange for cost information from Mr. Schwartz, who already had considered the concept of a hemispherical abode. At the prompting of his college mentor, R. Buckminster Fuller, Schwartz pursued the idea and Dow agreed to the experimentation. Schwartz was one of a handful of students Fuller was using to design geodesic domes for U.S. Marines Corps housing. In this case, the domes were made of cardboard and airlifted by helicopters.
Dow had developed a “spiral generation” machine that allowed for “spinning” a dome from Styrofoam. The machine rotated long pieces of four-inch thick Styrofoam in a circular manner that eventually became a dome. The foam was bound together with intense heat. A layer of concrete averaging two inches thick was sprayed on the dome using the Gunite method. The exterior was finished with a coat of Dow acrylic paint and a coat of Dow Corning Corp. sealant. It took only 14 hours to spin the … dome….
The story also points out that because its construction and materials, the house is very energy efficient. Well, what’s old is new again: Let’s build more of these, that Buckminster Fuller was a genius!
In addition, the interior is gorgeous, with lots of very useable ideas to consider for a mid century modern interior. Annoying but somewhat illuminating video:
- Midland Daily News story. Thanks also, Kevin Prior, for permission to show a few of your photos.
- YES, as Ruth points out, the images in the Virtual Tour are amazing. But turn off the music — and work quickly to manipulate the annoying and slow technology.
- The real estate listing includes more photos — the price, $325,000 — and a link to the realtor if you are in the market. This house is dreamy!
Adrian Pearsall’s 1964 house for sale 
A 1964 blue bathroom with built-in Hall-Mack, NuTone, Textolite & more 
James and Robi’s 1949 ranch house with 1964 St. Charles kitchen cabinets 
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While I understand this house may not be everyone’s “cup of tea”, I think it is AWESOME! I love the innovative design that is energy efficient, yet provides for so many windows that let in so much light (in such a cold climate!).
Wow. That is an amazing house.
Impressive! Love the interiors, the light and the furnishings.
This is such a neat house! The Dow connection is particularly interesting to me – I live just outside Lake Jackson, Texas, which is a Dow town. Dow employees go back and forth between here and Midland quite often – and the city of Lake Jackson was designed by Alden Dow utilizing a lot of what he learned while interning with Frank Lloyd Wright. I hope the right person buys this place and doesn’t do too much “renovating” – it would actually be a wonderful museum as a modern historic home.
Yes, Laura, it was the connection to Dow, and to Fuller, that made this one particularly interesting to me, as well. I am very curious why the construction technology did not catch on — it seems to have endured and as mentioned, is very energy efficient.
Who names their baby “Buckminster”? LOL
That’s like Little Lord Fontleroy.. Some names make me not positive (A nod to Pam for not using negative words on the blog).
Whoa, red flag here! The Green Meanies will freak out at the styrofoam bc it’s damaging to the environment!
i was wondering about that….
A house (or other building) made out of Styrofoam is no more unecological than a house made out of steel, or wood, and it’s more ecological than houses wrapped in vinyl. If you were making a Styrofoam house with the intention of dumping it into a landfill, THAT would be very unecological. But if you’re (or someone is) going to live in it for 50-199 years, no real harm done.
i appreciate that, trouble. you are duly awarded one get out of jail free card. don’t abuse it. too much.
His first name is actually Richard. Buckminster is his middle name.
What an interesting house. Everything looks unchanged–a time capsule, indeed. It kind of takes your breath away it’s still so fresh and clean. You look at some of these time capsule houses and wonder, what the heck happened? How did we get to this place today where we need to look to the past for such inspiration? This shows the kind of progressive architecture that once existed in the State of Michigan. It really shows the optimism that people had back then.
Michigan real estate has been an absolute bargain for years, and this masterpiece is no exception. Where else could you purchase such a unique, forward-thinking, enduring architectural gem for such an affordable price? The interiors are striking. I really admire the owners’ commitment to the design. The only thing missing for me is a fireplace. Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Pam!
If I understand correctly, concrete and sealant were put on the outside of the dome. Does that mean the interior walls are styrofoam? It looks like the ceiling is in the pictures, but I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around that.
My grandmothers friend had Styrofoam ceiling tiles throughout her house. From what I remember they had some kind of diamond pattern. I remember that they were Styrofoam because I commented on them once as possibly having asbestos and she corrected me and told me that they were Styrofoam. Sure enough they were when I looked really close!
Oh, someday- someday~ I’ll have a sunk in living room! And – I love LOVE(!!) the reoccurring Mondrian wall dividers throughout the house! I want to investigate that interesting window on the very top of the house! I imagine this house is very quiet when the windows are closed. Ahhhhh….. Wow. Fantastic!
Are there more of these houses about in the US? The other day I was driving up to an auction in North Las Vegas and saw a similar home. It wasn’t a geodesic dome house (there are a couple of these in downtown LV) but had very smooth walls and the funky look of this one. I’ll have to run up there sometime and take another look see. Maybe grab a couple of photos for comparison.
My father, Dale Johnson, engineered/designed the equipment to spin Styrofoam. He also did this building, which is the mess hall at Camp Neyati, on left side of photo: http://www.campneyati.org/
The process was used to cap containment ponds for Dow. He put them up all over the US, Europe, etc. If you fly in/out of St. Paul/Minneapolis you will see a lot of them there. There was a pod of domes built for a school in the Detroit area, but I have not been able to find the location.
This house manages to combine high modernist style with a very warm, human, inviting vibe. In other words, perfection! Although it’s not my first favorite style, I could easily live here happily and scarcely change a thing. The glass room dividers are to die for. The spaces look very well thought out, comfortable, and efficient. My hat is off to Mr. Schwartz.
Oh my, takes me back to college days, one of my design classes had required reading that included a book called The Dymaxion World of Buckminster Fuller”. He was quite a thinker/ inventor; but years ahead of his time. The geo dome is an engineering marvel! I think the style was a little unorthodox for most.
I think I will start playing Lotto once a week. My friend just moved back to Michigan. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a vacation “dome” to stay in while in town??? LOL, love it!
i love me some bucky fuller and domes (they looked like what the future was going to be). from a practicality standpoint, dome construction didn’t really filter down to the common homebuilder/owner until the late 60s and early 70s… and at that point became more of a symbol of counterculture / commune life. i remember reading a spinoff of the whole earth catalog that listed the pros and cons of dome living. one practical issue is that if the interior of the dome is not of the appropriate material, sound is constantly focused back to you. the other was the abilility to subdivide a hemispherical volume effectively.
regardless, i would rock a house like this. extremely “bond supervillian.”
How cool to see this here! I’m originally from Midland and grew up near this house.
I do live in MI – and yes, there are a ton of mid mod homes here for sale. There’s also alot of antique fairs with midmod items for sale (you’d just swoon!).
I think there is a Buckminster Fuller home at the Henry Ford museum that I mentioned last year – I’ve still yet to get there and take photos for you.
yes, there is a dymaxion house at the HF Museum/Greenfield Museum. Maybe I will get there this summer — if so, we’ll do a meetup!
I visited it two years ago and it *is* super cool!
Worth every penny and more – and I’d buy the furnishings, too! Talk about open concept living! I love the glass panels throughout the first floor. And that hex floor is gorgeous. My guess is the styrofoam helps keep the noise down from room to room. Can you imagine waking up in one of those bedrooms with the light streaming in (actually, I know that’s not everybody’s favorite way to wake up, but it’s energizing to me. The whole home is. Thanks for letting us peek inside!
Sigh, brutal house envy attack…..how wonderful!
I absolutely love, love, love this house! Such a wonderful use of space, and so bright, and inviting. While watching the video I kept visualizing my extended family enjoying a fabulous party in that dining and sunken living room! Fabulous.
The outside, I could take or leave it….but I love the mid-cen modern interior!
Being a native Californian, I’ve been in my share of schlocky ill-designed dome interiors. I’m not against domes per se, just haven’t found most of them too pleasant inside.
I recant my former position. This house is gorgeous inside and out. The open plan downstairs has the best of what good MCM offers-almost seamless transition to the outdoors. The issue with domes is usually what happens around the edges, but this house nails it! I love the expansive wrap around desks in each of the upstairs bedrooms. They look super practical, but also inviting. And I can think of a zillion things to do with that awesome 3rd story in the dome.
This one is really neat. I’d love to feel what it’s like to look out in the winter. Come to think of it all that organic white-it-tude would look pretty cool in the snow from outside as well.
Very, very well done.
I love this house. I am very interested in the styro. and the machine that made it. Can it be done with post consumer plastics? Will Dow allow the use of this tech. for future construction? I was very impressed that it only took 14 hours to complete the exterior of the the house. I have always been a big fan of domes and hope to own one.
This is awesome! It looks move-in ready. So many cool features. Love the royal purple carpet on the stairs.
Very impressive design! I think dome homes are fascinating. That one especially so!
Great story!