House of Tomorrow (Beverly Shores, Indiana)

 house, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, 1933_construction

The World’s Fair house with the most distinct personality is the House of Tomorrow. Bartlett paid only $2,500 for the 12-sided, 3-story structure. Perched atop a dune ridge, it provides breathtaking views of Lake Michigan.

The steel and concrete structural system of the house was originally assembled at the Fair site in only 48 hours. Its most prominent feature is the floor to ceiling “curtain wall” of glass used to enclose the second and third floors. Chicago architect George Fred Keck defied mechanical engineers who said that due to the expansive use of glass the house couldn’t be heated.6 Just the opposite occurred. The predicted amount of winter heat loss was far surpassed by the actual solar heat gain, resulting in the failure of the home’s revolutionary air-conditioning system in the summer.7 When Bartlett moved the house to Beverly Shores, he replaced the glass walls with operable windows to allow for proper air circulation. Keck later became a leader in developing passive solar heating through research and residential design.

Keck’s intent for the House of Tomorrow “. . . was not to give a specific form to his building but rather to find a solution to the many and varied new requirements of a residence in a simple and direct manner.”8 He based the design on the prefabricated structural components and airconditioning systems that were available at the time. The house offered a kitchen with state-ofthe-art gas appliances “calculated to bring joy and satisfaction to the housewife” and copper-clad exterior walls surrounding the first floor service area. In addition to a garage, it boasted an airplane hanger since futurists in 1933 assumed that every family would have both an automobile and an airplane.