A friend of a friend sent this find my way. He had remembered driving past the most peculiar roadside artifact while heading towards Rockwall, TX. A spaceship out in the middle of nowhere. Peacefully resting on the side of the road. I was intrigued! After some online scouring for info, I came across the location and confirmation of this alien craft. It turned out to be only a 20min drive from me! And just like that, I packed up my camera bag and headed out.
even through a cracked windshield the sunset was beautiful
Most of the photos and info I came across were at least a year old. So, my concern did grow as to if this thing was still out there. Is it on some shotgun wielding farmer's land?? What state was it in? The info I gathered had reports of graffiti and and disrepair. As I traveled down TX-276 I was hoping this thing hadn't been burned down by some dumb kids.
Lola parked on the drive way. looks to be a recent addition.
And the truth is, this space ship is not a space ship at all. It's a house! A style of home conceived in the late 60's called Futuro Houses. As the GPS gave notice that the location was coming up, I was pleasantly surprised to find the house in tact and calmly sitting on the side of the road. It is clearly visible from the road and someone has taken the effort to pave a driveway leading up to the house.
The Futura House - Royse City, TX. It has been painted over, most likely to hide the exterior graffiti.
The grass was tall at this time, but it was still an easy walk up to the entrance of the UFO. The stairs, even though one solid piece, looked like they had been ripped off their supports and were barely caught on the lip of the frame. I slowly stepped onto the steps and felt everything shift. My heart started to sink at the thought of not being able to see inside. But I gave a solid push onto the steps and nothing budged so I quickly climbed up. As I made it to the last step everything shifted again and I jumped onto the main floor of the house. I was so concerned with the steps that I forgot to test the integrity of the main floor. I was lucky that it was still solid. Shifty in areas, but somewhat stable. That would've been bad!
not so secure steps. use at your own risk.
luckily the metal front door was unsecured. as you can see in the bottom of the photo, the stairs are no longer secured to the house.
The architect of these homes was Matti Suuronen. He originally conceived the idea as a portable ski chalet around 1968. Funny enough one made it's way to the snow less area of Royse City Texas. Actually rumor has it, there are two of these futuro houses in the area. The next one in the city of Rockwall, but from photos and research that home is in someone's yard. Didn't want to mess with someone's private property so I ventured my way to Royse City.
A great resource for info on these Futuro homes is TheFuturoHouse.com. Photos and locations of the few Futuro homes left all around the world. Some fully functioning and in use today.
a shell of it's former glory
the sunset peaking through the windows
This was a great little find. I do recommend to go in daylight as there are no other lights along this road, and it does seem to be on the edge of someone's property. Again with any roadside find, be respectful and take only pictures and leave only footprints.
I will be planning a future photo shoot at this neat location. stay tuned!
great view of the fields
the scary climb down the stairs!
last remaining light over the sunflowers