Sculptured House

Deaton Sculptured House
Location Genesee Mountain, Jefferson County, Colorado, US
Nearest city Golden, Colorado
Coordinates 39°42′2″N 105°16′36″W / 39.70056°N 105.27667°WCoordinates: 39°42′2″N 105°16′36″W / 39.70056°N 105.27667°W
Area 15.3 acres (6.2 ha)
Built 1963
Architect Charles Deaton
Architectural style Modern Movement, Sculptural Expressionism
Governing body Private
NRHP Reference # 02000385[1]
Added to NRHP February 24, 2004

The Sculptured House, also known as the Sleeper House, is a distinctive elliptical curved house built on Genesee Mountain in 1963 by architect Charles Deaton. It is featured prominently in the 1973 Woody Allen sci-fi comedy Sleeper.[2]

Background

Architect Charles Deaton has described his inspiration for the house: "On Genesee Mountain I found a high point of land where I could stand and feel the great reaches of the Earth. I wanted the shape of it to sing an unencumbered song."[3]

Construction

The Deaton-designed house was built in 1963.[4] Delzell Inc. was the original builder of the house on an experimental permit. Clifford M. Delzell, the owner/operator of Delzell Inc. Deaton, ran out of money before the house was finished, so it was never inhabited by the designer. The interior of the Sculptured House went largely unfinished and was vacant for almost three decades until entrepreneur and one-time Denver, Colorado economic-development chief John Huggins purchased the house in 1999.[4] He built a large addition designed by Deaton with Nick Antonopolous before Deaton's death in 1996, and commissioned Deaton's daughter Charlee to design the interior, completed in 2003.[5]

In 2006, fellow Denver entrepreneur Michael Dunahay purchased the house from Huggins.[4] By late 2010, Dunahay had become delinquent on the nearly $2.8 million outstanding balance of his $3.1 million mortgage on the house, and the Public Trustee in Jefferson County, Colorado scheduled a foreclosure auction for November 10, 2010.[4] The house was sold again in November 2010.[6][7]

In the media

The Sculptured House is featured in the 1973 Woody Allen movie Sleeper, where the home’s cylindrical elevator with sliding doors is used as a fictional device called the Orgasmatron.[4]

8/6/2011 MTV Extreme Cribs Ep. 9

HGTV's Home Strange Home

An episode of American Guns.

See also

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sculptured House.