In June of 1957,
Disneyland opened Monsanto's House of the Future. It
remained for 10 years, finally closing in 1967 with the remodeling
of Tomorrowland. In it's short run, more than 20 million visitors
got a glimpse of what the future home may include. Such innovations
included insulated glass walls, picture telephones, plastic chairs,
microwave ovens, speaker phones and electric toothbrushes. The house
included three bedrooms, two baths, a living room, a dining room and
a family room. Some inventions never came to a reality (yet),
including ultrasonic dishwashers, foam-backed plastic floor
coverings, atomic food preservation and plastic sinks with
adjustable heights. Upon entering the home, a voice would state
"Welcome to Monsanto's Home of the Future", and continue to cover
the details of construction, which was almost entirely of plastics.
Monsanto sponsored the exhibit, but the house itself was built at
MIT and remained at Disneyland until it was demolished. A giant
wrecking ball was brought in, but bounced off the sturdy plastic
construction. A crew of several men had to go in and demolish it by
hand, dragging most of it away. Unfortunately, none of the original
building was ever salvaged.
House of the Future
(Audio)
House of the Future
(Video Clip)
