(This article is retained for historical use- the house sold at the auction.)
The spaceship house on Ririria Kereopa Memorial Drive in Raglan West is ready for lift off. Raglan Real Estate will auction the property onsite at 5pm on the 2nd March. And if you want to check out what living in a flying saucer is like, then there are open days on 9th and 10th February from 12 noon to 12.45, followed by open days each weekend in February.
The house was featured in the 2008 book, ‘Baches of Raglan’. The book’s editor, Venetia Sherson, interviewed then owner Raglan former sea captain Peter Farrell. He purchased the house in the 1970s after noticing it featured in the September 1970 issue of Playboy. Mr Farrell said he had fallen in love with the house, especially as it gave him something in common with Mr Hefner.
The house was purchased two years ago by Bill McKinstry who allowed Captain Farrell to stay on until he passed away late in 2012.
The spaceship house is considered to be one of the most unusual things inspired by the Space Age. Designed by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen, it resembled the round flying saucers that aliens have supposedly used to visit Earth. Also known as Futuro, it began to take shape in 1965 when Dr. Jaakko Hiidenkari asked Suuronen to design a ski cabin for him. The architect set about creating a house that could be easily transported to and assembled in rough terrain. It also needed to be warmed up quickly by people on holiday. The new fiberglass reinforced polyester plastic, the same material used to make surf boards from the 1960s, was selected to build the spaceship houses.
The prefabricated spaceship house consisted of 16 separate elements that can be quickly bolted together in two days. The only thing constructed onsite were the four piers to support the flying saucer, which made Futuro ideal for almost any terrain. The house could be transported in pieces to the construction site, or it could be airlifted by a large helicopter. The flying saucer shape of the house is 3.5 metres high and 8 metres in diameter. It has a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and a central table.
Fewer than a 100 such houses were made, including a handful in New Zealand by a Christchurch company under licence from its Finnish manufacturers. The spaceship UFO style of house is currently included as a Kiwi icon in the ‘Kiwi Prefab: Cottage to Cutting Edge’ exhibition at New Plymouth’s Puke Ariki musuem. The Raglan house is mentioned in the interpretation panel for the spaceship House in the exhibition.
A small cult following has developed for the spaceships including a club, a movie, a book and its own website. And the design has even featured on a postage stamp.