California’s Gold

12 January 2010

A favorite of mine since my school days, California’s Gold is a PBS travel program that explores the numerous natural, cultural and historical wonders of the Golden State. The show, now in its 17th year, is produced and hosted by Huell Howser. The minimal production allows the locations and people to remain the focal point of the program.

Howser, 64, has listed his 60-acre Newberry Springs compound with its dome-shaped home for $750,000.

Vard Wallace, who built a business selling drafting machines and airplane parts to Lockheed Corp. and other aircraft companies during World War II, had the spaceship-shaped high desert retreat constructed for himself as a getaway.  The home sits about midway between Las Vegas and Los Angeles.  It was completed in 1968 and designed by Harold Bissner Jr.

Built on a volcanic cinder cone, the dome has tempered glass walls at ground level. Concrete and beams form the dome, which has 360-degree views of the mountains and surrounding desert. At the apex of the dome is an observation deck.