Answer Man Finds Design Just Bulging With Character

The renowned California architect Wallace Neff built his first "bubble" house during World War II somewhere in Falls Church. Where was it located?

-- Tipton Tyler, Annandale

The bubble house. The shell house. The igloo. These were all nicknames for a type of distinctive, experimental dwelling Wallace Neff designed to shelter people during the World War II housing crunch.

Another nickname reveals the clever way the homes were built: the balloon house.

Picture, if you will, a giant, flaccid balloon made of Goodyear rubber. It is lashed down to a concrete pad and then inflated. Once it has achieved its hemispheric shape, concrete is sprayed over it. Some insulation is laid down, followed by another layer of concrete. When the concrete has hardened, the balloon is deflated, removed and used again.

Neff called them "airform" houses. They were cheap and easy to build quickly, and the walls were said to be impermeable to shrapnel.

Neff was an unlikely inventor of the modest bubble house. Grandson of the founder of Rand McNally, he grew up in luxury. As an architect he's best known for the Italian-style California mansions he designed for Hollywood's glitterati. Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and C ary Grant all owned Neff-designed houses. ( Madonna and Brad Pitt are among more recent celebrities to own his work.)

In 1941, a dozen airform houses were built in Falls Church, of two different designs: single, huge domes and smaller double domes joined by a hallway.

"We called the double houses bra houses, because they looked like a bra," said Carolyn Fix, 84, who lived nearby.

The houses were on Horseshoe Hill, near what is now Lee Highway and West Street. As late as 1960 you could rent one for $40 to $70 a month. They were demolished in 1960 to make way for the Timberlane Park Apartments, which are now condos at 7316 and 7318 Lee Hwy.