On the outside, the Shell House in Pasadena looks like a mud cake. Inside, it has high ceilings, a futuristic design and an open floor plan. (Richard Hartog / LAT)
Steve and Sari Roden, drawn to the futuristic look, bought the 1946 house for $260,000 in 1998. (Richard Hartog / LAT)
Architect Wallace Neff saw the dome and “honeymoon cottage” as affordable, well-designed housing. (Richard Hartog / LAT)
Neff began building domed concrete structures, which he would call “airform construction,” in 1941. It required inflating a giant, rubber-coated balloon and spraying it with gunite. (Richard Hartog / LAT)
The Rodens used vintage Neff pieces that came with the house, such as the sectional sofa recently re-covered in red wool. (Richard Hartog / LAT)
