Bubble Houses, Modernist residential architecture in Hobe Sound, Florida, US.
The Bubble Houses are two airform domes at 9086 and 9096 SE Venus Street in the Zeus Park neighbourhood of Hobe Sound, Florida, designed by Eliot Noyes and completed in 1954 by Airform using Wallace Neff's system of reinforced concrete cast over an inflated balloon. Each had 569 square feet on the main floor, with a bathroom and an open living, dining and kitchen area, and a raised loft sleeping space above. The eastern house, painted yellow, was demolished in 2012; only the western one at 9086 remains.
The Bubble Houses were completed in 1954 by Airform, designed by Eliot Noyes with Wallace Neff's airform monolithic dome system: reinforced concrete cast in place over an inflated balloon. Built to sell for $6,500, they drew over 3,000 visitors soon after completion, and the nearby Olympia School closed early one afternoon so students could tour them. The eastern house at 9096 SE Venus Street was demolished in 2012; only 9086 SE Venus Street remains.
Life magazine featured the two houses in its February 22, 1954 issue, calling them "both hurricane-proof and bugproof". More than 3,000 people toured them soon after completion, and the nearby Olympia School closed early one afternoon so its students could visit. Both appeared in the 2008 Inside Hobe Sound Tour run by the local chamber of commerce.
The surviving house stands at 9086 SE Venus Street in the Zeus Park neighbourhood, on a plot of more than five acres about a mile from the beaches; the demolished one was its neighbour at 9096. It is a private home, so view the dome from the street rather than the grounds. Both houses were opened to visitors during the 2008 Inside Hobe Sound Tour.
The eastern bubble house at 9096 SE Venus Street, painted yellow, was demolished in 2012 after its owner proposed replacing it with a larger house; only the western house at 9086 remains. Life magazine's February 22, 1954 issue called the pair "both hurricane-proof and bugproof."
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