Home tours used to be a window into the future. A glimpse into a fascinating world of tomorrow. Today a home tour brings to mind ginormous houses with a lot of floorspace, but not a lot of design. The checklist usually includes an expanse of granite, a media room, lots of dormer windows (even where there are no rooms) and a touch of wood-grained vinyl. Style is typically looking backwards- like a world of yesteryear, but with big screen TVs. This Saturday you'll have a chance to experience a home tour circa 1955. A glimpse of what the future once looked like to postwar America. Modern Tulsa is hosting an open house and tour of a model home called the Citation. Tulsa's Atomic Ranch Open House & Tour June 2, 2012 • 10am-3pm Admission: $5 per person 1717 S. Erie • Tulsa, Oklahoma
On the Trail of Julius Shulman: Stop 2 "This is a bank," the sign outside the futuristic building read. According to legend a prankster added a strategic question mark and echoed the sentiment of many passers-by: "This is a bank?" That was back in 1964 when it opened. Today the Arvest on Lincoln Boulevard looks a bit less Jetsonian, mostly due to replacement of structural glass below the "saucers," but it's still an unusual bank. Designed by Robert Roloff of the architectural firm Bailey, Bozalis, Dickinson & Roloff, the State Capitol Bank caused quite a stir in Oklahoma City when it opened. Heck, it's still pretty shocking today! Originally the flying saucers appeared to hover above the building (as seen in this vintage postcard). All the glass that made that effect possible also made heating and cooling an expensive proposition. Security concerns also mandated replacement of those windows with solid materials and small square portholes