The Bubble Houses are two historic

bubble Bubble, Bubbles or The Bubble may refer to: Common uses * Bubble (physics), a globule of one substance in another, usually gas in a liquid ** Soap bubble * Economic bubble, a situation where asset prices are much higher than underlying fundame ...

or airform houses located next to each other at 9086 and 9096 Southeast Venus Street in the Zeus Park neighborhood of

Hobe Sound Hobe Sound is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Martin County, Florida, Martin County, Florida, United States, located along Florida's Treasure Coast. The population was 13,163 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 cens ...

Martin County, Florida Martin County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state, state of Florida, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 158,431. Its county seat is Stua ...

History

Completed in 1954 by Airform, the Bubble Houses were designed by

Eliot Noyes Eliot Fette Noyes (August 12, 1910 – July 18, 1977) was an American architect and industrial designer, who worked on projects for IBM, most notably the IBM Selectric typewriter and the Otis College of Art and Design, IBM Aerospace Research Cen ...

using the airform

monolithic dome A monolithic dome (from Greek mono- and -lithic, meaning "one stone") is a thin-shell structure cast in a one-piece form. The form may be permanent or temporary and may or may not remain part of the finished structure. Monolithic domes are a for ...

system developed by

Wallace Neff Edwin Wallace Neff (January 28, 1895 – June 8, 1982) was an architect based in Southern California and was largely responsible for developing the region's distinct architectural style referred to as "California" style. Neff was a student of ...

, which consists of

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...

cast in place over an inflated balloon to establish the house's shape. The original interiors of the houses consisted of a bathroom and open concept living, dining, and kitchen area on the main floor, with a loft-style, raised sleeping space above. They were built to sell for $6,500 Shortly after their completion, it was stated that more than 3,000 people had toured the newly constructed bubble houses. The nearby

Olympia School The Olympia School, also known as the Picture City School, the Hobe Sound White School, the Apollo Street School and now the Apollo School, is an historic two-room elementary school building located at 9141 Southeast Apollo Street in Hobe Sound, ...

even closed early one afternoon so that its students could tour the Bubble Houses.

Status

The easternmost of the two bubble houses, painted yellow, received media attention in March 2012 because of its owner's proposal to replace it with a larger house. The historic structure was demolished to allow for the construction of the new house. (This was the easternmost bubble house located at 9096 SE Venus Street, Hobe Sound, Florida.) The only remaining bubble house is still standing, with the current owners intending to keep it in place. The westernmost bubble house, 9086 SE Venus Street, has received little or no attention in the media, although both houses were featured in a 2008 ''Inside Hobe Sound Tour'' sponsored by the local

chamber of commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

. The bubble house is located on a five plus acre park. It is one mile from local beaches, and two miles from the residences of

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...

Greg Norman Gregory John Norman (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian former professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as List of World Number One male golfers, world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 88 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA ...

and

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

Media coverage

The two bubble houses were featured in ''Life'' magazine in its February 22, 1954, issue, which described them as "both hurricane-proof and bugproof". They were featured in a chapter of the 2011 book by Jeffrey Head, ''No Nails, No Lumber: The Bubble Houses of Wallace Neff'' published by

Princeton Architectural Press Princeton Architectural Press (now PA Press) is a division of Chronicle Books. Founded by Kevin Lippert in 1981 in Princeton, NJ, PA Press has been a leading publisher of books on architecture, design, and visual culture for over forty years, ...

References

External links

Bubble House Tour
{Dead link, date=November 2018 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes Houses in Martin County, Florida Bubble houses Hobe Sound, Florida Eliot Noyes buildings Houses completed in 1954 1950s architecture in the United States Modernist architecture in Florida

History

Status

Media coverage

See also

References

External links