Bubbles for Sale

In a thin patch of pines at Kobe Sound, Fla., 25 miles north of Palm Beach, passers-by gaped last week at two odd-looking "bubble houses," the first built from designs by Connecticut Architect Eliot Noyes (TIME, June 22). Built around large nylon and rubber bubbles, reinforced with wire and then sprayed with two coats of concrete (called shot crete), the houses can withstand winds of 125 m.p.h., are sealed against the hordes of insects found in warm climates. Inside, partitions reach up just to the curve of the ceiling; only the bathroom is enclosed, with Fiberglas. The four-room, two-bedroom houses are expected to sell for around $6,500 when the houses are built on a mass-production basis. Savings come mainly in elimination of nails, cutting and fitting. Before such houses could be sold in the North, central heating would have to be added.

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