Iconic UFO house on Outer Banks gutted in overnight fire. ‘The Spaceship is no more’

An piece of Outer Banks history — the so-called “Frisco UFO house” — was destroyed late Oct. 19 by fire, according a Facebook post by the Frisco Fire Department in North Carolina.

“Sad to report, Frisco lost a piece of history last night,” the department wrote Oct. 20. “The ‘Spaceship’ is no more.”

The call came shortly after 10 p.m. and it took “several hours” to extinguish the blaze, the Island Free Press reports. A cause has not been reported, but a 2017 McClatchy News story reported the home was cited for not meeting “building codes or fire codes.”

Photos posted by the fire department show the structure appeared to have melted, and only a fraction of the globe-like exterior was left standing.

The metallic-looking silver home was built to resemble the flying saucers common in 1950s science fiction movies and it was infamous for managing to survive more than 50 years of booming growth on the Outer Banks.

Technically known was a “Futuro House,” the home was built from a kit using “fiberglass-reinforced polyester plastic,” and the structures were typically 13 feet high and 26 feet wide, according to Coastal Review.org. The one in Frisco dates to 1972 and was built in Hatteras Village, then moved to Frisco where it served several uses over the decades, the review says.

The Facebook post announcing the fire garnered nearly 1,000 reactions and comments in the first two hours, with many calling it part of their childhood and one of the nation’s quirkiest tourist attractions.

“So tragic. An icon of the island,” Gail Balcourt posted.

“It’s definitely a piece of Hatteras Island history,” Joan Whipp wrote.

“It has been there as long as I can remember. Imagine getting called out to a spaceship fire,” Gordon Jaquay posted.

This story was originally published October 20, 2022 at 8:32 AM with the headline "Iconic UFO house on Outer Banks gutted in overnight fire. ‘The Spaceship is no more’."