Harkleroad wind turbine

The Harkleroad wind turbine was a noted landmark in Novato, California. It was built to generate electricity for the workshop on which it was mounted.[1] It was visible from U.S. Route 101, a heavily traveled freeway.[2] In 2021, the turbine was removed from the roof of the workshop, and it is no longer visible from the freeway.[3]

Harkleroad wind turbine
General information
Address19 Harkle Road
Town or cityNovato, California 94945-4109
CountryUnited States
Coordinates38.10086°N 122.56246°W / 38.10086; -122.56246
Technical details
Floor area1562 sq/ft
Design and construction
Architect(s)Samuel A. Harkleroad
Other information
Number of rooms3 br

Sam Harkleroad

Sam Harkleroad was born on October 20, 1909, and grew up on a farm in Fresno. His education ended with high school. He lived much of his life in Marin County. Harkleroad died on June 12, 1993, at the age of 83. Harkleroad had a wife Fern and a daughter, Renee Israel.

Harkleroad was a contractor, who liked to use recycled materials.

Around 1960, Harkleroad designed and constructed three unusual structures on a low hill on Harkle Road in Novato:

  • A round home that rotates
  • A home built in 1959, with a roof shaped as a hyperbolic paraboloid,[4][5] known as the "Taco House" or the "Parabola House"
  • A workshop building, with the Harkleroad wind turbine mounted on the roof

Harkleroad built various other unusual dwellings in the area. Most were destroyed when the U.S. Route 101 was built across his land. Sam Harkleroad was known as "The Frank Lloyd Wright of Marin County."

Round house

The round house is able to rotate 320 degrees, while the plumbing and electrical systems continue to function.[6]

Harkleroad round house
Round house
Round house with part of support base showing

The house rides on "inverted" railroad track and is powered by a used washing machine motor. The rooms are pie shaped. There is a spiral staircase in the middle leading to the basement and motor room. The dark squares around the outside of the house are gates. There is one stationary stairway leading up to the deck, so regardless of how the house is rotated, a gate is available to allow access to the deck from the stairway.

Taco house

This residence has a parabolic saddle roof made of 2-by-4 lumber.[7]

Harkleroad Taco house
Harkleroad Taco house

This house was for sale in 1959, with a minimum bid of $32,000.[8] It has movable interior walls so the occupant can change the shape and size of rooms.

Workshop

Harkleroad's Savonius wind turbine was mounted on the roof of the workshop. The turbine once provided electricity for the workshop, but it was removed from the roof in 2021.

References
  1. "Round House Rotates 320 Degrees : Imagination Fuels His Many Oddball Creations". The Los Angeles Times. June 29, 1986. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  2. Mal Sharpe, Sandra Sharpe (August 20, 1997). "HOMES WITH A TWIST / Step inside some of the Bay Area's most unconventional houses and meet the people who created them". SFGATE. Hearst Communications. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  3. "A brewery, a giant peanut and a pest control sign: Lost landmarks of the Bay Area". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  4. "Californian Makes An Unusual Roof". Toledo, Ohio: The Blade. July 23, 1061. p. 8. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  5. "California Mid-Century Modern Residential Buildings". Roadside Architecture. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  6. Carousel House Spins for a View. Popular Mechanics. 1964. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  7. "This is the House that Sam Built". San Rafael, California: Daily Independent Journal. May 11, 1956. p. 22. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  8. Bill Almeida and Tonie Brown (June 1959). "Novato—50 Years Ago" (PDF). The Novato Historian. Novato History Museum. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
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