The House of Tomorrow is a historic building in the

Century of Progress Architectural District The Century of Progress Architectural District is a Historic districts in the United States, historic district in Beverly Shores, Indiana. The district is on Lake Shore Drive within the Indiana Dunes National Park. The district comprises five b ...

Beverly Shores, Indiana Beverly Shores is a town in Pine Township, Porter County, Indiana, United States, about east of downtown Chicago. The population was 613 at the 2010 census. History Beverly Shores began life as a planned resort community. The Chicago, Lake Shor ...

. The house was originally part of Chicago's 1933-34

Century of Progress A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Expositi ...

Exposition. Designed as the house of the future, this house included its own airplane hangar. Glass walls offered views from every angle and so taxed the experimental air conditioning system that the cooling system failed.

1933 Century of Progress Exposition

The House of Tomorrow was built for the Century of Progress'

1933 Homes of Tomorrow Exhibition The Homes of Tomorrow Exhibition was part of the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. The Fair's theme that year was a Century of Progress, and celebrated man's innovations in architecture, science, technology and transportation. The "Homes of Tomorrow" e ...

in Chicago, Illinois. Architect

George Fred Keck George Frederick Keck (1895-1980) was an American modernist architect based in Chicago, Illinois. He was later assisted in his practice by his brother William Keck to form the firm of Keck & Keck. Biography Keck was born in Watertown, Wisconsin, t ...

's design reflected European modernism. The design conveyed the ideals of the fair and its emphasis on science and technology. Keck said he 'discovered' solar heating when he found workers inside the house wearing only shirtsleeves on a frigid winter day.

Bartlett Development

After the close of the

, the structure was sold to Robert Bartlett for $2,500. Bartlett was developing a resort community in Beverly Shores, Indiana. The house was placed on a barge and moved across Lake Michigan to Indiana. In April 1938, Bartlett sold the house to become a private residence.

Design

The building is a three-story

dodecagon In geometry, a dodecagon or 12-gon is any twelve-sided polygon. Regular dodecagon A regular dodecagon is a figure with sides of the same length and internal angles of the same size. It has twelve lines of reflective symmetry and rotational s ...

, 42 feet in diameter. It was built using aluminum fascia with vermiculite interior walls. Plate glass walls are the most notable feature of the building. An airplane hangar was included, set four feet lower than the ground floor. When the house was moved to Beverly Shores, the ground floor was modified to make use of the garage and airplane hangar for living space. A carport was added. Windows were modified so that the occupants could open and close them to control the internal environment. The interior is designed around a central staircase in the dodecagonal prism structure. Most rooms are wedge shaped. Keck's inspiration for the house came from an 1854 octagon house in his hometown of

Watertown, Wisconsin Watertown is a city in Dodge and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Most of the city's population is in Jefferson County. Division Street, several blocks north of downtown, marks the county line. The population of Watertown was 2 ...

Restoration efforts

Restoration efforts on the House of Tomorrow House were started in 1997, with the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and

Indiana Landmarks Indiana Landmarks is America's largest private statewide historic preservation organization. Founded in 1960 as Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana by a volunteer group of civic and business leaders led by Indianapolis pharmaceutical execu ...

searching for potential lessees to restore the building. As of 2011, the Park Service is once again looking for a long-term renter to complete the restoration of the property. The previous renter vacated the property after the restoration cost estimates exceeded previous budgeted amounts. The current restoration cost is estimated at $2 million. The restoration professionals were identified in March 2017. The House of Tomorrow was named a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in October 2016. In February 2019, the Indiana Landmarks group announced that it was looking for someone to restore the House of Tomorrow, which it estimated would cost about $3 million. If a qualified person does the restoration, they will be granted a 50-year lease on the house.

References

External links