A replica of the flying saucer Futuro House is for sale on Gumtree

Here’s your chance to own an outlandish flying-saucer-shaped pod – and a nod to a piece of architectural history at the same time.

Painted silver and used as the Green Room at the Falls Festival in Lorne for a decade or so, the flying-saucer shaped fibreglass structure is a copy of the original 1960s “Futuro House”. 

The “Futuro” was an iconic kit home design, created by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen. It never saw mass production as it was too expensive to manufacture after the 1973 oil crisis, but at the time originals were shipped globally for manufacturers to copy. Fewer than 100 remain, and most are privately owned.

According to Canberra industrial designer Wade Bartlett, their original claim to fame “was that you could heat them from -20 degrees to +20 degrees in 20 minutes. So you could go into your ski cabin, light the fire and within 20 minutes it would be lovely and warm.”

Bartlett, along with Jon Burchill, updated another Futuro home in Canberra in 2013.

This particular specimen needs a little bit of work – a new stand and floor is required after the sea air corroded the old ones – and it is hollow, unlike the originals, which came with furniture included.

The owner of the replica Futuro, Mara Szoeke, said it could use some insulation, “a good scrub” and a paint job.

“I’m very fond of my kit home but do not have the means at the moment to restore it and would love to see it put back together by someone who loves it,” Szoeke told Domain.

She said the most interest so far has come from yoga teachers, music festival organisers and architecture enthusiasts. But other than being used as an artistic space, there’s also potential for it to be plumbed and wired to be transformed into a living area, Szoeke said.

It was originally manufactured by the owners of Carribean Gardens, a privately-run market in Melbourne, who were looking to turn their site into a futuristic theme park.

“But [they] ended up just replicating one and joining the original and the copy together and using it as an office for 20-plus years,” Szoeke said.

Szoeke picked up the home after a tip off from her cousin, a keen mid-century enthusiast. She had no specific plans for the home when she bought it, but hopes it will end up somewhere where it can be seen and appreciated. 

It’s currently located in Kyneton, Victoria, but the threat of bushfires means it needs a new home. As detailed in the listing, it’s structurally sound and fairly straightforward to re-assemble.

The home first garnered some media attention late last year with an auction scheduled, but it is has since returned from orbit for buyers keen to splash out at least $20,000 on a bit of retro-futuristic style.