Why did the Monsanto House of the Future close?

[MAC1986]

The House of the Future opened in 1957 and closed in 1967, lasting ten years in the park. The New Tomorrowland opened in July of 1967 and debuted with some older attractions including the House of the Future. It wouldn’t close until almost six months later In December of 67’. Why is it that Disney decided to close it all of a sudden? Why not just close it before the new land premiered if it wasn’t planning on being part of It anyway? Did Monsanto Adventure thru Inner Space have anything to do with it? Anyone have any insights?

[stovk]

The House of the Future opened in 1957 and closed in 1967, lasting ten years in the park. The New Tomorrowland opened in July of 1967 and debuted with some older attractions including the House of the Future. It wouldn’t close until almost six months later In December of 67’. Why is it that Disney decided to close it all of a sudden? Why not just close it before the new land premiered if it wasn’t planning on being part of the new land anyway? Did Monsanto Adventure thru Inner Space have anything to do with it? Anyone have any insights?

According to Yesterland, it was the arrival of Adventure Thru Inner Space that "doomed" HotF.

https://www.yesterland.com/futurehouse.html

[SkunkID]

And while it's not an "official" reason, it's safe to assume that, as much as it seems like it should be easy to keep updating a "house if the future," as least appliance and technology wise; we know from Disney's soft reboot to the idea that used to be inside innovations/carousel theatre, they really seem to struggle at keeping these kinds of things updated.

A proper modern version would likely require them to be rebuilding and updating the house every year or two, so the fact it lasted as long as it did back then honestly is surprising.

[Eagleman]

IMHO
I felt the Monsanto House of the Future
would not fit in with the landscaping of the 1967 Tomorrow Land
As Stovk pointed out
Monsanto wanted have something New ,such as -Adventure thru Inner Space-

[Tomorrowland_1967]

In the same vein as Eagleman suggests .... it was probably as simple as - Monsanto favouring something completely “New”. “Out with old in with new” thing.

In retrospect though .... the design would have blended into the New Tomorrowland just fine, and update it. After all what did they replace it with? Absolutely nothing!

[Tomorrowland_1967]

See ..... they both blended in just fine .....

[sbk1234]

I’m 100% guessing, but maybe they didn’t want an attraction “outside” the boundaries of Tomorrowland? If I remember correctly, none of the other lands at the time had attractions that “spilled out” into the Hub. I don’t think that really happened until they built the new Princess area where Carnation Plaza used to be.

or maybe I’m completely wrong. What do I know?

[Mr Wiggins]

To folks in the 50s, the House of the Future was a marvel of futurism. Photos and video links are in Sam Gennawey's 2014 MiceChat article and 2011 blog, "The Monsanto House of the Future Story."

Lots of photos also on Daveland's House of the Future page. From Dave's article:

"One of two free attractions sponsored by Monsanto (the other was the Hall of Chemistry) was this walk-through tour of a plastic house with plastic furnishings and fascinating modern appliances such as dishwashers, microwave, intercom system, and closets filled with polyester clothes. Designed by Marvin Goody & Richard Hamilton, the house only existed for the 10 year length of Monsanto’s lease, at which time they moved on to the Adventure Thru Inner Space attraction."

[bigcatrik]

It's hard to tell with our modern eyes but to a late 60s viewer it might have looked dated and Disney certainly wouldn't want an "eye-sore" on display in such a prominent position. Those were fast-moving times.

[Darth Scottie]

We adopted several aspects of design from the latter version which was in the Star Wars Launch Bay before they changed it. But yeah, all things change as we see Tommorowland needs a renovation.

[Mr Wiggins]

It's hard to tell with our modern eyes but to a late 60s viewer it might have looked dated and Disney certainly wouldn't want an "eye-sore" on display in such a prominent position. Those were fast-moving times.

That's spot-on. In the late 50s, the House of the Future was super exciting to us kids and our parents. By the mid-60s, we kids were teens and the HotF felt dated.

[Mike_M]

See ..... they both blended in just fine .....

It was visible from the hub, right? Never seen an image from that angle and always wondered how it looked when the castle and it were in the same line of sight.

[bayouguy]

In the same vein as Eagleman suggests .... it was probably as simple as - Monsanto favouring something completely “New”. “Out with old in with new” thing.

In retrospect though .... the design would have blended into the New Tomorrowland just fine, and update it. After all what did they replace it with? Absolutely nothing!

maybe it could have been repurposed into a shop or quick service restaurant...

[Mr Wiggins]

maybe it could have been repurposed into a shop or quick service restaurant...

I suspect that the problem with such a repurposing would have been Monsanto: Unlike the PeopleMover, the House of the Future was linked conceptually and contractually with Monsanto. Additionally, its very limited floor space would have made its use as a shop problematic, and next to impossible as a restaurant (see Daveland's House of the Future page for floor plans and interior photos).

[AhpalovestheDuck]

I remember it well, but then I remember parking right in front of the entrance. An other time.

[Rammikin]

It's hard to tell with our modern eyes but to a late 60s viewer it might have looked dated and Disney certainly wouldn't want an "eye-sore" on display in such a prominent position.

They didn't want an eyesore? Walk into tomorrowland and look up .

[DisneySpaceAce]

And while it's not an "official" reason, it's safe to assume that, as much as it seems like it should be easy to keep updating a "house if the future," as least appliance and technology wise; we know from Disney's soft reboot to the idea that used to be inside innovations/carousel theatre, they really seem to struggle at keeping these kinds of things updated.

A proper modern version would likely require them to be rebuilding and updating the house every year or two, so the fact it lasted as long as it did back then honestly is surprising.

It really didn't help that by the time Innoventions rolled around, technology was evolving at a really rapid pace. Things in it were becoming obsolete withing a year of being shown in it, and stuff like Asimo never really took off as much more than a novelty.

[Bob Weaver]

The Disneyland dream suite!

[sbk1234]

It was visible from the hub, right? Never seen an image from that angle and always wondered how it looked when the castle and it were in the same line of sight.

[Bob Weaver]

How long did it sit there unused? Most articles say it was there from 1957 to 1967. But it was still there, if not used, after the New Tomorrowland of 1967 opened. It is seen from the PeopleMover at 5:05 in this video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=...&v=hCn9nZ1PoSI