05/19/2013
"Harkleroad Space-Age Round House Novato CA
In the late 1950s/early 1960s, an innovative developer/tinkerer by the name of Sam Harkleroad made a name for himself in the Bay Area by building unique homes from recycled materials. A trio of Harkleroad structures sit on a hill overlooking highway 101 in the North Bay city of Novato. I have had a fascination with these buildings since I was a child.
Perhaps the most well-known building is the "round house." The house sits on a pedestal and was designed to rotate (using washing machine motors)... allowing its residents to capture the best sunlight throughout the day. The middle structure, described by some as the "taco house" is where Harkleroad himself lived. The smallest structure, that which sits closest to the highway and has a series of spinning oil drums on its roof, used to be Harkleroad's workshop. The oil drums were supposed to generate electricity.
My apologies for the poor picture quality but my camera, at the time, could only do so much... and needless to say, it was a challenge to take these pictures from the highway, on a windy day, without getting run over."
