Ted Spyropoulos wasn’t in the market to buy a house in 2006 when a realtor offered to show him the unusual curvilinear house with its half-circle carport perched high above Nautilus Avenue. Spyropoulos quickly traded in his studio in the Shores to buy the house for $700,000. He spent the next two years working with contractors and artists to reinvent the property. “I didn’t know what the colors and materials would be immediately,” Spyropoulos said. “I just knew I could make it new again.” Spyropoulos is a painter by trade who specializes in painting metals and plastics to look like woodgrain and antiques. Architect Eugene Ray had designed and built the house by hand in 1981 with four students from San Diego State University, where Ray taught environmental design. Ray lived there with his wife and three children until he sold the house four years ago. Spherical structures fascinated Ray, who believed they made for stronger buildings and reflected the flowing curves seen in nature. “There are no boxes in nature,” Ray said. “They’re brittle and they collapse.” Ray built a geometric roof over his third-floor studio by interlocking five-foot pieces of wood into a diamond shape called a lamella truss. No pillars dissect the house. Two of the four walls on the second floor slide open. It’s a steep climb between the three floors. Ray called his handiwork “The Silver Ship.” “A curvilinear structure is conducive to a better flow of energy,” Ray said. Spyropoulos didn’t share Ray’s taste for loud, bright colors, however. The new homeowner favored an industrial, minimalist look for the interior. “I like white walls and colorful elements instead of having walls that are very colorful — you can’t see what’s in the room,” said Spyropoulos, who lives in the house with his girlfriend and two housemates. For example, he placed a deep-red chaise in the corner and hung a cubist-style print with blocks of color (by Kazimir Malevich) on the wall. He repainted the walls white and resurfaced the floors and kitchen countertop in polished concrete. Clutter is not welcomed. Spyropoulos also tore down the pink, cage-like bars that covered either end of the house like an exoskeleton. Psychedelic color had enamored Ray. He had painted the walls and doors hot pink, orange and deep blue. He painted a rainbow on the wall of the living room. He made a large energy circle — in swirls of silver, red and orange — the focal point of his studio. The effects of color and light had deeply interested Ray. He was influenced by architect Buckminster Fuller’s concept of synergy, which Ray described as combining elements A and B to create element C that is more dynamic than its individual parts. “Radiant architecture is not just about color and light; it’s about energy,” Ray said. Building the house with affordable materials was another integral part of Ray’s plan for the house. He wanted to show that the average American could afford to build a uniquely-designed home. So, he chose to use inexpensive materials. Ray said it cost him $3,000 to build the house and $5,000 to build the carport. “It was a humble structure,” Ray said. “It had to be built with simple materials.” Spyropoulos was more interested in refurbishing the house with materials that would withstand the elements so that he wouldn’t have to replace them in the near future. He replaced the wooden, circular sides of the house with corrugated metal and switched out the aluminum roof for Stand ‘N Seam brand metal. He replaced the outer walls with cement board siding that he painted metallic blue. Ray said his inspiration for The Silver Ship came from seeing a UFO flying over Baton Rouge as a 14-year old boy growing up in Louisiana. “It was a long, silvery craft with no wings or vapor trail,” Ray said. “It was impossible to be there. It leaves you with a tremendous impression.” Ray also believes his passion for circular structures was passed on in his genetic memory from his ancestors. He said his great-great-great grandfather built the first round sugar mill in New Orleans. A painting of the man hangs on the wall in Ray’s living room. Prestigious architectural journals in Italy, France and Japan have profiled Ray’s work, including The Silver Ship, and Ray has traveled throughout Europe lecturing about environmental design. Spyropoulos sees the house less as a silver ship and more as an eagle’s nest perched high above the trees and high above Nautilus Avenue where drivers crane their necks for a view of the unusual structure.