The Volcano House

USA / California / Barstow / Silver Valley Road, 50451
 house, interesting place

50451 Silver Valley Rd.
Newberry Springs, CA 92365

Sited upon small volcanic cone in the high desert, this 60-acre retreat seems to cap the mountain top with its dome-like roof: Concrete and truss beams form its dome allowing the interior to embrace 360 degrees of stark, strong almost lunar landscape. Main house of two bedrooms, 2 baths and open entertaining areas. Guest house of one bedroom and bath, lake, and ultimate privacy.

Photographs:
www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/11/huell-howsers-space-a...
la.curbed.com/archives/2009/09/new_to_market_secret_des...
www.redfin.com/CA/Newberry-Springs/50451-Silver-Valley-...
www.latimes.com/classified/realestate/hotprop/la-hmw-ho...

PBS commentator Huell Howser has listed his 60-acre Newberry Springs compound with its dome-shaped home for $750,000. (Edit: Prior to his death on January 7, 2013, Howser gifted the Volcano House to Chapman university in Orange, CA).

Vard Wallace, who built a business selling drafting machines and airplane parts to Lockheed Corp. and other aircraft companies during World War II, had the high desert retreat constructed for himself as a getaway, according to Los Angeles Times archives. The home sits about midway between Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Completed in 1968 and designed by Harold Bissner Jr., the spaceship-shaped home was envisioned to resemble the information center at the construction site of the nuclear generating plant at San Onofre.

Built on a volcanic cinder cone, the dome has tempered glass walls at ground level. Concrete and beams form the dome, which has 360-degree views of the mountains and surrounding desert. At the apex of the dome is an observation deck.

The main house has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a conversation pit and a fireplace. The ceiling of the dome is covered with steam-bent fir. The compound also includes a guesthouse with one bedroom and one bathroom. There is a three-car carport.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   34°51'4"N   116°33'25"W

Comments

  • Google Maps identifies the lake as 'Lake Howser'.
This article was last modified 11 years ago