“The Sleeper House” by Architect Charles Deaton, Overlooks Denver and the Plains

“No, I wasn’t trying to be streamlined or futuristic,” architect Charles Deaton said, explaining the evolution of his Sculptured House in Genesee. “I was going to do a piece of sculpture for its own sake. It became long and low and flat because of the internal planning, and also to be part of the mesa. I like to think that it grew here, like a very friendly, cooperative mushroom.”

“On Genesee Mountain, I found a high point of land where I could stand and feel the great reaches of the Earth. I wanted the shape of it to sing an unencumbered song!”  – architect Charles Deaton

THE HISTORY OF THIS UNUSUAL HOME

Designed by Denver architect Charles Utter Deaton (b. January 1, 1921 – d. December 18, 1996), this clamshell-shaped house, built in 1963 has become one of the most talked about homes in the Western United States. The builder, Delzell Inc., had to get a special “experimental building permit” because of the home’s unusual design. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the money ran out on the project, before the interior was even started.

The house went vacant and unfinished for almost three decades. It was during that time that Woody Allen used the house as an exterior location for his film “Sleeper”. (Read the plot for the movie “Sleeper'” at the end of this article.)

Architect Deaton finally parted with his baby, his sculpture/house, in 1991. It sold for $800,000 to the one-time Denver economic-development chief, John Huggins. He had Deaton put together a plan for a large addition. Unfortunately, Deaton passed away in 1996 before the interior was designed, so Huggins commissioned Deaton’s daughter, Charlee, to design the interior and the house. The project was finally completed in 2003 resulting in 7700 square feet of living space, spread over 5 levels – including 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, and a state of the art kitchen. A master suite with magnificent views was constructed on the top level.

In 2006, entrepreneur Michael Dunahay purchased the house from Huggins.

Four years later, in 2010, Dunahay became delinquent to the bank for nearly $2.8 million in outstanding debt, on his original $3.1 million mortgage, but he was foreclosed-on by Jefferson County for past-due taxes. The Public Trustee in Jefferson County, Colorado held a foreclosure auction on November 10, 2010, where the house sold for $1.5 million, then quickly flipped in a sale to a new owner (all in 2010). Today these same owners have the property and are said to still be renovating it, with energy efficiency in mind. Sources say they may have intentions to sell.

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The Plot for the movie “Sleeper”

Miles Monroe (Woody Allen), a jazz musician and owner of the “Happy Carrot” health-food store in 1973, is subjected to cryopreservation without his consent, and not revived for 200 years. Two scientists (played by Bartlett Robinson and Mary Gregory) revive him. They are members of an underground rebellion. The U.S. in 2073 is a hedonistic, automated police state, ostensibly ruled by a dictator known only as “The Leader,” about to implement a secret plan known as the Aries Project. The rebels hope to use Miles as a spy to infiltrate the Aries Project because he is the only member of this society without a known biometric identity.

The authorities discover the scientists’ project and arrest them, where they are taken for interrogation and torture. Miles escapes by disguising himself as a robot and goes to work as a butler in the house of socialite Luna Schlosser (Diane Keaton). When Luna decides to have his head replaced with something more “aesthetically pleasing”, Miles reveals his true identity to her, whereupon Luna threatens to give Miles to the authorities. In response, he kidnaps her and goes on the run, searching for the Aries Project.

Miles and Luna fall in love, but Miles is captured and brainwashed into becoming a complacent member of the society, while Luna joins the rebellion. The rebels kidnap Miles and perform reverse-brainwashing, whereupon he remembers his past and joins their efforts. Miles becomes jealous when he catches Luna kissing the rebel leader, Erno Windt (John Beck), and she tells him that she believes in free love.

Miles and Luna infiltrate the Aries Project, wherein they quickly learn that the national Leader had been killed by a rebel bomb ten months previously. All that survives is his nose. Other members of the Aries Project, mistaking Miles and Luna for doctors, expect them to clone the leader from this single remaining part. Miles steals the nose and “assassinates” it by dropping it in the path of a road roller.

After escaping, Miles and Luna debate their future together. He tells her that Erno will inevitably become as corrupt as the Leader. Miles and Luna confess their love for one another, but she claims that science has proven men and women cannot have meaningful relationships due to chemical incompatibilities. Miles dismisses this, saying that he does not believe in science, and Luna points out that he does not believe in God or political systems either. Luna asks Miles if there is anything he does believe in, and he responds, “Sex and Death, two things that come once in a lifetime, but at least after death you’re not nauseous.” The film ends as the two embrace and kiss.

(Source: Wikipedia, and various other websites, plus a personal conversation with the architect Charles Deaton while he was still working.)