I am writing today’s blog post from inside a UFO (although technically the “U” in UFO stands for “unidentified” and this structure has most certainly been identified).
Our latest road trip began with one goal in mind: mark off the three remaining contiguous states I hadn’t previously visited (North Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin). I’ll get Hawaii (my 50th and last state) at the end of this year.
We had originally planned to visit Wisconsin last year. In this article I wrote for the Retroist about Futuro Homes I recalled that there was one, the PodUpNorth, that had been converted into a lake cabin in Wisconsin. Unfortunately there was a long wait to rent the cabin and we weren’t able to reserve it until this year, so that’s what we did and we planned the rest of the trip around our three day stay in a UFO-shaped house.
Day one of our trip ended in Sioux Falls, Iowa, and day two ended in Fargo, North Dakota — done and done. From there we headed almost seven hours east to Minocqua, Wisconsin, home of the Pod Up North.
A bit of background here: less than 130 of these Futuro Homes were made back in the late 60s/early 70s. Numbers vary slightly depending on the source, but approximately 50 of them made it to the United States and only approximately 25 of those remain. Other than this one I’ve only personally seen one other one (the one in Illinois), so getting to go inside one (much less stay inside it for three days) is a rare treat (at least for me).
Using this online calculator and making a best guess on the diameter of the floor, the pod has roughly 490 square foot of space. Approximately 5/8 of the pod is the main living space and kitchen; 1/8 is the bedroom and 1/4 is the bathroom. Actually the main living space is much more than 5/8 of the overall space as none of the spaces extend to the center of the pod. The center of the pod is occupied by a 3 1/2′ (and in the pod, non-functional) gas log fireplace.
For being such a small space there’s actually no shortage of seating. In the above photo you can see the curved table with four chairs around it. One fourth of the pod also has wooden bench seats with cushions on them. The benches have foot rests (also with cushions) that can be moved around to easily sleep three people. The bedroom has a full bed. All of the cushions and mattresses are similar to ones you would find in a pop-up camper.
As claustrophobic as the pod may appear from the outside, the ceiling in the middle is 10′ tall. Even standing as close to the windows as you can get, it’s still almost 8′ tall there. The only time I’ve come close to hitting on head on anything is while climbing the stairs that outside. That’s not to say the pod is bursting with spare room. The two closets (one in the living room, one in the bedroom) are each 1′ deep. The kitchen has enough room for one person to move around in, and the shower… let’s just say it either came from an RV or a horror movie.
About 50 feet from the backside of the pod is a lake. There’s a private dock back there along with three boats (a boat, a canoe, and a paddleboat). There was also a fishing pole here (we picked up a second one at a thrift store in town) and the kids have been outside all day trying to catch fish with the poles and fishing nets. We’ve gone in town a couple of times to eat but we’ve also cooked a few meals inside the pod. There’s a small 19″ TV with a DVD/VHS combo player and a stash of mostly sci-fi movies under the cabinet. So far we’ve watched E.T. and Spaceballs and Men in Black. Tonight is The Black Hole and Stargate.
Right now, the kids are ready to go cook hot dogs down by the lake. I think I’ll join them.
