FUN FACT FOR TODAY – Monsanto House of the Future The Monsanto House of the Future (also known as the Home of the Future) opened in 1957 on a prime site just off the Hub, adjacent to the Circarama theater. The House of the Future was one of two free attractions sponsored by Monsanto. The other was the Hall of Chemistry, which closed in 1966. The Monsanto House of the Future closed in 1967. It was sponsored by Monsanto Company. The design and engineering of the house was done jointly by Monsanto, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Walt Disney Imagineering. The fiberglass components of the house were manufactured by Winner Manufacturing Company in Trenton, New Jersey, and were assembled onsite. The attraction offered a tour of a home of the future, set in the year 1986, and featured household appliances such as microwave ovens (which have since become commonplace). Over 435,000 visitors toured the house within the first six weeks of opening, and ultimately over 20 million visitors before the attraction was closed. The house survived the introduction of New Tomorrowland in 1967, however, due to Monsanto’s shifted focus to Adventure Thru Inner Space. Legend has it that the planned one-day demolition of the House of Future ended up taking two weeks as the wrecking ball just bounced off the exterior. Workers painstakingly cut the house into pieces with hacksaws. The building was so sturdy that when demolition crews failed to demolish the house using wrecking balls, torches, chainsaws and jackhammers, it was ultimately demolished by using choker chains to crush it into smaller parts. The reinforced polyester structure was so strong that half-inch steel bolts used to mount it to the foundation broke before the structure itself did. The reinforced concrete foundation of the House of the Future was never removed. After the House of the Future was removed, the house’s landscaping, waterfalls, and walkways remained. The area, named “Alpine Gardens,” became home to a souvenir stand. In 1996, Disneyland turned the area into Triton’s Garden, with a sculpture of King Triton and delightful jumping fountains. In 2008, Pixie Hollow moved in. It currently exists in its original location, now found in the Pixie Hollow attraction. The foundation has been painted green and is currently in use as a planter. In 2010, MIT Museum Architecture Curator Gary Van Zante gave a presentation on campus showing archived drawings and photographs of the plastic house, titled “Back to the Future”. In February 2008, Disney announced it would conceptually bring back the attraction with a more modern and accessible interior. The $15 million Innoventions Dream Home is a collaboration of the Walt Disney Company, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, software maker LifeWare, and homebuilder Taylor Morrison, built to showcase the sponsors’ products. Guests discover how the home’s residents, the fictional Elias family, enjoy the latest in mobile phones, PCs, digital music and gaming, as they prepare for a trip to the World Soccer Championships in China. Guests interact with family members, who, unlike the Carousel of Progress family, are real people. The family’s name is a nod to Walter Elias Disney. This fun fact brought to you by For TRUE Disney Addicts (Facebook Group) https://facebook/groups/ForTRUE.DisneyAddicts/475297219263003/?notif_t=group_comment
Posted on: Sun, 06 Apr 2014 00:14:37 +0000
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