Somerset UFO house

Photos: Melanie May

I climbed a mountain in Bulgaria to see a concrete UFO and all the time there was one hiding a few miles from where I used to live. Though Warminster, Wiltshire, used to be the UFO hotbed of the South West, with sightings and crop circles cropping up all over the area, the lovely turquoise Futuro UFO House has landed just over the border near Frome in Somerset.

Finnish architect Matti Suuronen created the Futuro House in 1968, just before the world went space mad with the moon landing. Though originally built as ski chalets, Suuronen hoped the UFOs would be mass produced as portable holiday homes (they come apart in sections quite easily). In the end, about 100 were made.

About 70 of the UFOs remain in various states, and are scattered all over the world, some as far away as Australia and New Zealand (difficult to prove if any are further field, such as Mars). The Somerset UFO, situated in a 76-acre Victorian estate called Marston Park, is the only one in the UK and apparently the only one you can stay in. For a price that’s out of this world (well, about £400+ per night when I looked).

Made from plastic and resin, the pod sleeps up to five people and contains everything you could want from a UFO – beds, kitchen, chairs and table, all designed in a cool 1960s retrofuturism style. The model has had an interesting past, being rescued in a dilapidated state from South Africa by owner and artist Craig Barnes, who lovingly restored it. Before settling in Somerset, the pod spend time in Matt’s Gallery, East London, Central Saint Martin’s School of Art and a summer festival at Le Havre.

Previously on Barnflakes
Concrete UFO spotted on Bulgarian mountain pass
Be afraid…