The Circle House by Alden B. Dow

One of the most creative and visionary structures ever designed by Alden B. Dow was never built. The Circle House was an idea that came to mind while the architect was working from his office in Houston, Texas, in the fall of 1943. To give his idea shape and form, he built a detailed model of this house of circles and prepared a written description of its concept and inspiration. As he wrote:

“This model represents a house designed for the South, to be more exact, South Texas, where the freedom of the individual is as limitless as the great open spaces of that state … I chose the circle as the main motif of the plan because in curved lines there is a sense of spaciousness not achieved by straight lines. This house will be built of plastics because their flexibility, variety of color, and texture make them durable for this sort of build-as-you-please architecture.”

The outside walls and floors were to be made of pink phosphorescent plastic whose soft glow at night would provide exterior beauty and serve as a guide to the various areas of the house. The translucency of some of the walls and ceilings would create a pattern of changing color to the interior throughout the day. And, some of the walls would be made of transparent plastic, making the beautiful grounds a part of the rooms, virtually breaking the barrier between nature and structure.

Mr. Dow found a client bold enough for the Circle House in J. R. Donnell of Findlay, Ohio. Plans were drawn up and modified during the period of years from 1944 to 1948. Unfortunately, once the estimate of the cost to build it surpassed $200,000, the project was canceled.