At the end of 1953 Arnold and Newlin move into the MIT solar house "Solar III". They were selected because of their medical and science backgrounds since they could reliably log various measurements. Newlin said that a South African professor was in charge of the solar energy project; he or his staff would frequently bring national and international visitors to tour the house and usually gave them a bit of warning, but one time after a party the previous evening, Newlin had not washed all the dishes and had left them piled in the kitchen with a screen drawn shut to hide the mess, but she was busted when the visitors wanted to see the solar mechanism in the attic, which was accessed through the dirty kitchen.
There was a fenced-in back yard maintained by the MIT grounds crew, so they had to do no yard work. The yard and the interior of the house appear in the photos in the next few posts.
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| Letter from Associate Dean of Students F. O. Fassett, Jr., offering Arnold Nevis the rental of the Solar House |
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| http://web.mit.edu/solardecathlon/solar3.html |
There was a small fire in December 1955 when Arnold and Newlin were out of town and the solar house had to be demolished. They had rather few possessions back then and most were not damaged, but according to Newlin, they were handsomely compensated by the insurance for the little that they lost.
next post Arnold and Newlin: Life with Eddie 1953
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first post in Flashbacks How the Nevis family came to California
first post in Arnold's Story July 1943
