The Royse City Futuro House

The Royse City Futuro House was designed in 1968 by the Finnish architect, Matti Suuronen, as a portable ski chalet. Less than one hundred Futuro Houses were ever produced, and even fewer still remain standing. Resembling a UFO or spaceship, the pre-fabricated design was intended to be both affordable and stylish. Because of its futuristic appearance and durable construction, it could be placed in almost any environment. The Royse City Futuro House sits abandoned, but not forgotten, in a field near the roadside on Texas State Highway 276. The historic structure was restored in 2019, and it has been featured on the cover of music albums, on television shows, and in Texas tourism brochures.

During the mid-1960s, the architect Matti Suuronen of Finland was commissioned by Dr. Jaakko Hiidenkari to design a portable type of ski chalet that could be moved from Finland to other regions of the world. Hiidenkari gave the architect two requirements: the structure needed to be sturdy, as it would likely be placed on uneven ground, and it also needed to heat up quickly after being moved to a new mountain location. In response, Suuronen came up with a design that resembled a bright orange spaceship, with all the quintessential science-fiction attributes of a flying saucer or UFO. It had a rounded shape, a uniform row of elliptical windows, and a hatch-style entrance.

Initially, the Futuro Houses were intended only as temporary vacation housing. Yet once the idea began to spread, the pre-fabricated design was also discussed as a possible solution to the housing crisis in various parts of the world. Each prefabricated "Futuro House" cost around fourteen-thousand dollars to manufacture. With their fiberglass walls and plastic interiors, they were billed as relatively affordable, durable, and easy to assemble homes. In only half an hour, the structure's electric heating system could raise the temperature from twenty degrees below Fahrenheit to sixty degrees above. For a while, the future was looking bright for Futuro Houses. Then in 1973, an oil embargo in the Middle East caused the price of petroleum to soar sky high. With oil as a necessary ingredient for making plastic, the cost of manufacturing Futuro Houses suddenly tripled almost overnight.

Of the approximately one hundred Futuro Houses produced, only around sixty remain standing today. Some have been moved as far away as Antarctica, Estonia, and Los Angeles. They also appear in varying shades, from gold to red to turquoise. One light blue Futuro House is perched in the Caucasus Mountains, where it serves as a mess hall for a nearby ski hotel. A gold Futuro House sat vacant in San Diego, on the verge of being demolished, before it was saved and relocated to Idyllwild, California, as a vacation home. The structure was rescued by Milford Wayne Donaldson, who served as the Chair of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation during President Barak Obama's administration.

The Royse City Futuro House sits in a field off the side of Texas State Highway 276. With its bright orange color and flying saucer design, it is hard to miss. Many drivers have likely done a double-take, wondering whether they were seeing an art installation or an alien landing. It has had a few different owners over the years and is currently owned by Sapo Real Estate of Rockwall County. The Royse City Futuro House has been featured in advertisements for tourism in Texas, as well as in music videos, on album covers, and on television shows. In 2019, it received a makeover, as Gunderson Elkins and Chris Shelton from Lone Oak, Texas, restored the historic structure and removed the graffiti that had accumulated. They also added one new, unique detail, stenciling "Area 276" near the door as "an homage to the mysterious Area 51 in Nevada."

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Fisher, Landon. "Futuro House given makeover", Royse City Herald Banner. August 9th, 2019. Accessed June 8th, 2023. https://www.roysecityheraldbanner.com/news/local_news/futuro-house-given-makeover/article_ac228898-baec-11e9-84a5-a3071d0ce3ec.html.

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