Urethane Blog
A Little History
June 17, 2025
Do you remember Lanesborough’s ‘Flintstone House’? Here’s how it got its odd shape
- By Jim Shulman
I have always been fascinated with unusual houses, and over the years have visited many.
In the 1990s I was told by a friend that there was a house in Lanesborough on National Street made of foam. On a visit to the Berkshires, I had to find it and at least take photos.
My first thought when I drove up was that it looked like a cross between a couple of igloos and a large outgrowth of mushrooms. This then-vacant and boarded-up structure was built in the 1970s and described in a Berkshire Eagle article as something out of a Flintstones cartoon. From then on it apparently became known by local baby boomers as the “Flintstone House.”
This abode was the brainchild of the Raymond “Randy” Barriere of Lanesborough, who built it and lived in it when completed. Randy was the oldest of six children of Ernest R. and Jean Barriere.
Ernest was a 1937 graduate of Pittsfield High School who later earned an engineering degree at MIT. After college and the service, he took a job with the General Electric Co. in Schenectady, where he worked for 40 years before retiring in 1990.
Although the Barriere couple raised their children in Scotia, N.Y., they had family in Pittsfield and summered in Lanesborough for years at the family cottage at 44 National St.
Their son, Randy, graduated high school in 1961 in Scotia and then went to college at the University of Florida, where he majored in landscape architecture. While there he learned about out-of-the-box houses — specifically built with urethane foam. Randy left college in his senior year to pursue the construction of such houses and even built a small school using urethane foam.
After four years in the Air Force as a flyer, Randy and his new bride moved to the family cottage in Lanesborough. He decided to build his own house across from the cottage on family-owned land at 45 National St. His goal was to introduce to the Berkshire community its first foam homes. He planned to build a prototype and eventually give it to his parents as a future retirement gift. In 1973 at age 30, he completed the home and started his own construction firm in Pittsfield called Plexi-Foam Corp.
The foam technology was an interesting one, especially to both doubting and curious traditional builders in the Berkshires. Initially Randy had a concrete slab poured and included space for 4-foot foam footers. Basically, the structure was built around several large inflated balloons that were then sprayed with the urethane foam.
Randy’s, sister, Wendy Darling, shared with me that she and her mom, Jean, sewed the canvas to create the balloons and later helped install a chicken wire covering. The urethane was supplied in 55-gallon drums.
It had to be heated to 140 degrees and then it was sprayed from an airless gun. The urethane was not considered toxic as were many similar insulation chemicals that were banned in later years.
With his architectural background, Randy created a well-thought-out design and plan. A first floor or basement had burlap paneled walls squaring off the lower parts of the domed tops, which were also covered with the foam. Wooden decking to support the upper floor had been incorporated in the design.
After the foam settled, Randy had cut out space for doors and windows. He installed traditional doors and plexiglass oval-shaped, fixed windows primarily to let light in. He then added more foam to the outside to reach at least 4 inches of thickness and to seal tightly around the windows. Air circulation was accomplished by fans and venting, not through windows.
Finally, the entire outside structure was coated with off-white colored Duratite. This vinyl concrete sealant was for waterproofing the outside.
Randy’s younger brother, Greg, a Pittsfield architect, shared with me that a sealant also was applied on the inside, not only for waterproofing, but also to totally enclose the flammable urethane foam rendering the building fire safe.
The home was all electric, with wiring and minor duct work both enclosed in fiberglass. Greg said the building was so well insulated that a single light bulb could easily heat a whole room in the winter. In the summer the interior remained cool.
When totally completed, the building would be protected from drafts, fire, water leakage, and invasion of termites and other varmints. Randy claimed the structure would be maintenance-free for two to three decades and energy economical in all seasons due to the insulation offered by the foam.
The home’s design provided 1,600 square feet of indoor space in the two main domed sections. The downstairs or basement included a two-car garage, storage space and a workshop/utility room.
Between the two sections from the front door and passageway, Randy designed a curved stairway leading to the second floor with a laundry room a few steps up on a landing. Upstairs, the larger section had a living room, a dining room and a kitchen with a few steps down to a sitting area and fireplace. The other second floor section had a bedroom, bathroom and study.
From this prototype, Randy estimated his homes could be built for a cost of about $22 per square foot, or between $30,000 to $35,000 per home, with 1,300 to 3,000 square feet. The market was a tough one as new homeowners were unfamiliar with such an unusual construction.
Randy did build a larger structure in Connecticut, but most of his business was from projects such as insulating existing structures and adding foam rooms to traditional homes. He also served as a lecturer locally in programs on his unique constructions and on energy efficiency.
Randy Barriere was a pioneer in not only building unique foam houses, but he was one of the earliest contractors in the Berkshires to use foam insulation for more traditionally built homes. Unfortunately, his contracting business was a short-lived one. This innovative designer and contractor died in an auto accident on upper North Street near Crane Avenue on March 11, 1981. He was only 38 years old.
Randy’s wife continued living in the house for several years. In December 1985 a strong wind broke a hemlock tree at its trunk and it demolished part of the home. The damage was repaired, but soon afterward, his widow vacated the house, moving to Rhode Island to be close to her family.
When I visited the house in the late 1990s, some of the wood supports were exposed and the deck wood was rotting. A decade or so of neglect had taken its toll on the structure. Being boarded up, and covered with no-trespassing signs, I could not see the inside condition.
On Oct. 31, 2013, an explosion occurred at Flintstone House, causing the entire structure to burn to the ground. The cause of the blast was a mystery. With the destruction of the building’s sealants, the flammable urethane foam was exposed to the flames.
Debris was strewn over a quarter-mile radius surrounding the residence and smoke could be seen by motorists on Route 7 all along Pontoosuc Lake.
From time-to-time I read comments on local social media sites about the Flintstone House. It really was unique. I often think about how many more interesting homes would have eventually been built throughout the Berkshires if Randy was with us today.
(Special thank you to Wendy Darling and Greg Barriere, siblings of Randy Barriere for their input.)
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