When people talk about notable sites in Marin County, the discussion is usually centered on southern cities, such as Sausalito and Tiburon, or coastal stretches, including Point Reyes National Seashore. Novato, with its inland location flanking Petaluma, doesn’t make the cut as often — but it should.
The town of about 52,000 has a wealth of significant buildings visible to anyone driving on Highway 101. Novato is home to the Buck Institute, one of I. M. Pei’s only California commissions, the iconic Birkenstock building and the rotating Harkleroad round house. Now, for the first time, the latter is up for sale.
The round house, the “potato chip house” — a hyperbolic paraboloid structure — and five other properties are all listed together, asking $3.3 million. “It’s really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own a piece of local history,” said listing agent Angelo Baglieri during a phone call with SFGATE.
For Baglieri, listing the homes is a dream nearly a decade in the works. He initially cold-called the owner, Harold Pozzi, in 2017, and the two met in person on the property a couple of years later. At first, Baglieri had a hard time accessing the famously spinning domicile. “The door knob is in the middle of the door,” he said. He kept in touch after the visit, dropping off a bottle of wine during the holidays, and got the call this year: Pozzi was ready to sell.
The seven detached homes sit on about 2.25 acres, off Highway 101’s De Long Avenue exit along Harkle Road. Named after Pozzi’s grandfather, Sam Harkleroad, the street once came close to being called Harkleroad Road. Currently, all the homes are occupied by tenants who pay their own utilities.
Despite Sam Harkleroad having no formal architectural training, his creations have withstood the test of time. Over 60 years ago, using many recycled materials, he designed both the aptly named potato chip house and the round house, which spins 320 degrees over the course of 20 minutes. Bringing these buildings to life along with a now-disassembled wind turbine earned Harkleroad the moniker of “The Frank Lloyd Wright of Novato” from the Los Angeles Times.
“I’m very impressed with the ingenuity,” said Baglieri, pointing out that the rotating house spins using a deceptively simple method. The 1,562-square-foot home rests atop a pedestal and moves on an old railroad track. The movement is operated by a washing machine motor and controlled with a switch that simply says “clockwise” and “counterclockwise.” Harkleroad was very intentional about the location of the homes, said Baglieri — they are all constructed on bedrock.
The potato chip house is a rare architectural feat in its own right, sharing its design with several legendary “potato chip” arenas, including London’s Lee Valley VeloPark and Calgary’s Scotiabank Saddledome.
Marin County locals and others regularly crossing the Marin-Sonoma border on 101 will also likely remember the workshop building, which featured an energy-generating wind turbine constructed on the roof. The building is still there, though Pozzi removed the turbine in 2021 after heavy bouts of atmospheric rivers and storms in the region. He was concerned that the whirling 50-gallon drums might dislodge and hit passing vehicles on the freeway.
Baglieri is unsure about who will scoop up these unique properties but hopes the new owner will keep the homes intact. Given the nature of these eye-catching structures, he did point out an unexpected quirk.
The round house’s design has given some hungry travelers the wrong impression over the years. After spotting it from the freeway, “people thought it was a restaurant and would walk into the house,” he said.