Ensculptic in the Press

Over the years, Ensculptic has gotten some attention from the press. Here is a sampling:

Life Magazine, 1970: "A House Made of Spray" A nice article from when the house was new, with some great photos.

A brief design blurb that includes some interesting trivia, such as Ensculptic's construction cost of $60,000, not including land and architect's fees. That's over $347,000 in today's dollars!

A blog entry where the blog's author remembers a visit to Ensculptic as a teen, with interesting comments from the owner and from the architect.

Fox 9 news report on Ensculptic's appearance on the market and accompanying open house in the fall of 2010. Watch the video for a view of the mushroom table and bench that is outside of the living room window wall. Try not to scream at the stupidity coming from the mouths of the interviewees... they have no imagination.

The Star-Tribune reports. "While structurally sound, the Ensculptic has had a rough decade. There is no running water, the septic system is shot, and all the copper piping has been stripped out. About $30,000 is needed to get make the place habitable, and more to make it feel like home. And if that's not enough, bank financing is pretty much out of the question."

"It needs someone with the soul of an artist," says owner Jayme Littlejohn. Unfortunately, it also needs someone with the bank account of a corporate fat cat. My soul cries out for this house. My bank account mocks me mercilessly. It's not fair!

(Not that I am unhappy with my current home, mind you; not everyone gets to live in a geodesic dome, and I adore ours. It's just that Ensculptic is something extremely special!)

For those who are wondering how I stumbled upon this gem, I point you to Natural Spaces Domes. I started off looking for ideas on upgrading the HVAC in our dome, and wound up looking at the tour page. Ensculptic was featured on the tour last fall... yet somehow I and everyone I know who would be interested in this place missed all of the press coverage. I'm glad, because it was much nicer to be able to go take a private tour of the place rather than listen to the unenlightened masses spout ignorance about how "weird" it is and how it should be bulldozed.

"Light and airy and utterly unpredictable"... Ensculptic is still ahead of its time 42 years after it was built. It would be a crime for this house to be destroyed. I wish I were in a position to save it.

Nautilus

The interior of Ensculptic reminds me of a seashell. I find the shapes soothing but also invigorating. The sense of space must be experienced to be truly believed.

Here you can see my lovely sister-in-law standing in the dining area and looking up toward the top of the center mast/chimney.

Ensculptic online!

There is an official website for Ensculptic that includes photos of the construction and shots of the interior in its heyday.

It looks like heaven to me.

I am obsessed with Ensculptic

In 1969, a visionary architect named Winslow Wedin designed what turns out to be my dream home for the Littlejohn family. It's named Ensculptic, it's on 8 1/2 acres in Minnetrista, MN and it's on the market as we speak. 

The problem... my husband and I already own another of our dream homes - a 1986 geodesic dome on 4 1/2 acres. We can't have both, and even if we were willing to sell our little dome, we could not afford to purchase and rehab Ensculptic. This is a tragedy on many levels, as we are both completely in love with the house and know exactly where we would put everything we own and have ideas on how we would bring it back to its former glory (if we had the money).

But I can obsess...