Oregon


Frances Gabe
(1915 - ?)


Frances Gabe (or Frances G. Bateson) was born in 1915 in Newburg Oregon. She was a very quick learner and gained valuable experience in house design and construction from her father, who was an architect. At the age of 14, she entered Girl’s Polytechnic College in Portland, Oregon and finished a four year degree in only two years.

After World War II, her husband was having a hard time finding work, so Frances decided to go into business for herself and opened up a building repair service (which her husband was embarrassed of). Her business became very successful, leaving Frances little time to do things like clean the house. So what did Frances do? She invented the “Self-Cleaning House,” a house that has 68 patented devices that clean it for her, including 10 inch, "ceiling-mounted cleaning/drying/heating/cooling units" in each room. The sink, toilet, and bathtub all clean themselves and the clothes closet was converted into a washer/dryer. Frances has this to say about her “Self-Cleaning House”: “House work is a thankless, unending job, a nerve-tangling bore. Who wants it? Nobody! With my jaw set hard I was determined there had to be a better way!”


For more information on Frances Gabe, you can visit the following websites:
bullet http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blgabe.htm
bullet http://www.inventorsmuseum.com/FrancesGabe.htm

Back to Oregon Page

Back to Map