The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-08-09
House Suspended From
Mast to Cost so Gents Pound
Structure of DuraIumin and
Casein Will Stand
Gale and Flood.
BY JOE LOVE

MA service hTtIfT
CHICAGO, Aug. 9.-"Six-room
~ house, constructed of best
quality casein and duralumin, with
ninety-foot mast. Located 300 miles
from city. Will sell for so cents per
pound -"
This may be a sample Of the real
estate advertisements on the pages
of newspapers around 1889 if Rich
ard B. Fuller's new idea in home
building is successful.
Fuller has designed a house which
does away with furnaces, wash days,
and the need Of a large purse. 1t
is f1ood-proof, can stand up under
a 1,OO0-mile gale, and will be sold
by the pound.
Here's how 1t happened. Fuller,
formerly in the building business,
became dissatisfied with the style,
time, and cost Of house construc-
ton. Why, he argued, were houses
always built of stone or wood, ma
terial used 5000 years ago merely
because they we're close at hand?
It's an Inventive Age!
an this age of achievement and
invention, it still takes from six
months to a year to build a simple
dwelling, inadequate at best" he
says. IN less time than this,
squadrons Of airplanes and destroy
ers, and a million and a half autos
are built"
Seven years ago Fuller applied
himself to designing a house that
could be factory-made at a small
cost. and erected quickly.
Bricks are not used in airplanes
or ships, yet planes Withstand wind
speed up to $50 miles an hour, he
reasoned, so why not use the same
materials in building a house?
Built Like Airplane
Fuller's strange house is con-
structed eight, taut and strong
after the manner of the airplane,"
with a central mast Of duralumin
tubes Can alloy Of alurinum). From
the top of the mast a six-sided
structure is suspended above the
earth by steel cables. The walls and
windows are of double sheets OF
casein, made in transparent, opaque
or translucent form, with vacuums
between to insulate the heat. The
walls hold in the heat so that over
flow of the lighting and power gen.
Grating system are capable Of heat
ing the whole house.
The lights, centralized in the
masthead, are transfused by mirrors
and lenses throughout the rooms IN
any intensity or color desired. The
floors are of piano wire in spider
web formation, overlaid with IN in
fatable covering. The partitions are
suspended and the floor pumped up
to meet them and seal the edges.
All the fitting is done by expansion,
by initiating, rather than cutting 20
fit, with its attendant waste.
All Sorts of Conveniences
In the grill is a gas range, ice box
and dishwasher. All shelves are re-
volving like the seats of a ferris
wheel, making 1t unnecessary to
reach for them. A basement washer
will also be installed with a trap
door opening into which single
pieces of linen can be thrown and
automatically washed below. The
beds are of rubber and can be in
fated to the desired hardness.
The first floor is reached by a SIM
pie elevator in the mast. Under
meath the overhanging house is a
garage or hangar for an airplane.
Rolling metal curtains form the
doors.
Fuller says the complete house
will weigh, when finished, about
5000 pounds and a be sold at so
cents a pound.