Heinlein's House of the Future

Fun "Popular Mechanics" review of Robert Heinlein's clever, uber-convenient house in Colorado Springs, from "back in the day".  There are a lot of smart ideas here, some of which were driven by the tech limits of the day. Other ideas were more idiosyncratic, and still others I suspect were good-sounding ideas that might not have worked out quite as well in practice (e.g., the external kitchen trash).

One feature about the place is that it's very built-in intensive. For a smaller place, that might make sense, and the added cost is offset by less furniture to buy, but it does create some limitations for future modification or decor.

Still, I would have loved to have gotten a tour from the man himself. I suspect he was quite proud of it (and would have been willing, not for publication, to also talk about bits that didn't work out or that he'd want to improve on next time).
(h/t +Paula Jones)

Reshared post from +David Brin

A guided tour of Heinlein's house in Colorado Springs(I believe the one at 1776 Independence) was featured in a 1952 issue of Popular Mechanics … and through the magic of Google it's available on the Web! Custom built to his specifications, it had many unusual and innovative features, some of which were later adopted by the industry and a few of which would have driven me crazy …

http://books.google.com/books?id=XNwDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA65&dq=popular+mechanics+heinlein&lr=&as_pt=MAGAZINES&rview=1#v=onepage&q&f=false