S
Joined: Mar 31, 2003
Posts: 1795
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S
I don't live in Memphis but this is the same house as ours. Alot like an Eichler but more asian feeling. We bought our Futurama from the original 1959 owners and We love it. It was featured in Look magazine in an article titled "The house with a Pool in it's Parlor" in 1959. It was also featured in a True Romance magazine article, lol! Also, It was featured in the local newspaper when it was built here in Nampa.
Home of the Future
Dear Vance: I picked up some old magazines at a garage sale, and a 1959 copy of True Romance contains an article on "Story-Book Homes." What surprised me is that a model home in the state-of-the-art "Futurama" design was constructed in Memphis. Is it still standing today? -- B.N., Nashville.
Dear B.N.: I certainly didn't think so, because all too often my explorations in search of buildings from the past have taken me to parking lots or overgrown fields. Imagine my surprise, then, when I discovered that this particular "Story-Book Home" is not only still standing, it looks as good as new (opposite, above).
As your magazine article explains, "Story-Book Homes" were a series of mostly traditional home designs, among them the "New Orleans," the "Regency," and even a model called the "Abundant Villager." And these were special homes indeed. "Not even movie stars or millionaires can live a more luxurious or thrilling life than you can in your fabulous Story-Book Home," the article declared. What made these homes unique, or so their designers claimed, were the ultra-modern features and materials incorporated into each home. "For instance, the double insulation, the special roof decking, and the moisture-proofing are positively not combined in any other houses. And the beautiful and durable Flintkote Flexachrome vinyl-asbestos floors are easy to clean and require no waxing." What's more, the kitchens even featured Westinghouse appliances. Apparently, that was a big deal at the time.
Local builders could purchase these plans -- for a whopping one dollar! -- and in the Memphis area, developers W.D. Jemison and Sons erected several "Story-Book Homes" in the Forest Lakes subdivision they were developing around Beaver and Otter Lakes in Raleigh.
The "Futurama" home (below) was the most unusual of all the designs, described as a "home of the future with a magnificently simple exterior of great dignity and hospitality." Inside, "huge, exposed natural beams make this house look as strong and durable as it truly is." The deluxe model featured "a vast living room with handsome fireplace and shoji-screened entrance. A huge family and TV room surrounds a magnificent scientific kitchen with formal dining, which overlooks a beautiful 32-foot indoor swimming pool (heated and filtered)." The bathroom was tiled with "the revolutionary new Formica," which has a "smooth, gleaming surface that saves cleaning time and work for Mother."
Oh, there were plenty of other marvels. The master bedroom "offered all the elegance of your own private villa on the Riviera." And that indoor pool, just off the bedroom, was always available "for a relaxing, nighttime dip -- in complete privacy, unhampered by bathing suits!"
This article ran in True Romance magazine, remember.
As far as I can tell, only one of these was constructed in Memphis, at 3991 Lakemont Drive.
"When it was first built, the home was featured in the Sunday newspaper, and my mother took us to see it," says "Futurama" homeowner Jan Beaty. "I was only 14 years old at the time, and never knew that would one day it would be my home."
Beaty and her husband purchased the house in 1970. This was quite a change from their previous residence, a small home in Frayser. The "Futurama" still had most of its original features, including the indoor swimming pool, sunken bathtub, separate "his and hers" bathrooms, and brick fireplace.
Over the years, Beaty has made quite a few updates. She lightened many of the darker paint colors that originally covered the walls, added a cedar-lined attic in the home's distinctive rooftop "turret," and completely modernized the kitchen. Moisture from the pool weakened the overhead beams in that room, so when she had those rebuilt she also replaced the original styrofoam-panel ceiling with a more environmentally friendly material, which absorbs moisture.
"One of the features mentioned in the magazine article was that you could just open the door leading to the swimming pool room and that would draw moisture into your house, like a humidifier," says Beaty. "Well, they omitted the fact that if you have chlorine in the water, that's not a good idea. Your whole house smells like chlorine."
Beaty also added more windows at the rear of the house to give a better view of the lake. "It's so beautiful, looking out there. That's what's kept me here all these years; you just have such a sense of spaciousness."
"I don't know why these homes were featured in a True Romance magazine," she says, "but it really was a 'true romance' story. My husband and I just adored each other, and we really had fun here. It's really been a wonderful home." M ----------------------
Here's a pic I shot and developed in our frontroom soon after the move 2 yr's ago.
I'm glad to see so many modern home enthusiasts on this thread.
ST
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