If we were to put together a short list of our favorite Angelenos, KCET's man-about-town, Huell Howser, would be in the running for #1. Earlier this morning we enjoyed his visit of one of the more notable design-centric spots here in Silver Lake, one amongst the countless LA adventures he's taken us on. But not everyone knows Huell is also a big architecture buff, especially desert architecture (we share his love). Now one of his more unusual properties has been revealed and is up for sale&hellip
Like a 1960's villain's Martian secret headquarters, this is something straight out of a 007 film. Solitude and a great view are guaranteed at The Volcano House:
Sited upon small volcanic cone in the high desert midway between Las Vegas & Los Angeles, 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. Truly one of a kind property in the most impressive of settings.
WOW! Crazy shit and amazing.
view b77's profile
The sunsets and sunrises must be beautiful here.
I must say...it kind of looks like it could be a visitor's center...the type that goes on top of a volcano.
view magstermash's profile
...I'm going to assume it's extinct? XD
view ryttu3k's profile
wasn't Mount St. Helens extinct? even dormant volcanos go hundreds of years without blowing up, they release gas but they don't blow up. I'm more worried about rain storms with mudslides.
view funstraw's profile
Meeeh! Looks like a bad municipal building built in the 70s.
view jeffnyc's profile
magstermash: right on the nose with "visitor's center"!!
view jeffnyc's profile
Looks like early John Lautner to me. The wood ceiling, that blows my mind. You would be hard pressed to find someone capable of that craft today, and even if you could, it would be entirely cost prohibitive. I'm guessing they can't exactly order Thai take-out though.
view jacksonlalonde's profile
Wow, that's some serious solitude. The main house is beautifully constructed.
view heather77's profile
amazing, truely a part of history that will hopefully remain well maintained!
view kjansson's profile
more of a cinder cone, actually
view ec05's profile
I looks like another Dr. Evil house in a Hollywood movie. Why does Hollywood always put the bad guys in modern setting and the good guys live in a quaint little cottage with ruffle curtains? My neighbor lives in a house that looks like an episode of Little House on the Prairie, but I swear she's no angel.
view frgl's profile
funstraw, no, Mount St Helens was dormant, which is precisely as you say - they can go for hundreds of years without an eruption. Prior to 1980, its last eruption was in the 1850s.
A dormant volcano is just one that hasn't erupted for a while - an extinct volcano CAN'T erupt ever again, because its magma supply has moved on. The older islands in the Hawaii chain are a perfect example of extinct volcanoes - the hotspot supplying its magma is what's fueling the Big Island volcanoes, but they no longer have anything.
Admittedly, there are quite a few dormant volcanoes that were thought to be extinct before eruptions, like the Pompeii Vesuvius eruption and, more recently, the ones in Montserrat, but with better technology, we're significantly better at actually locating magma supplies, and thus making the distinction between dormancy and extinction.
...Don't mind me, I'm an aspiring volcanologist!
view ryttu3k's profile