Rollamatic Roofs, Inc.

Information may not be reliable

It was the late 1950’s. California was booming. Developers, led by Joseph Eichler, were building open-plan homes that let the outdoors in with open-air atriums and lots of glass.

Homebuilder David S. Miller loved the modern architecture, but wanted to add year-round livability to the popular atrium spaces. In 1958, he designed and built a fully automatic retractable roof for the center courtyard of a Diamond Heights house in San Francisco.

Even at a higher asking price, the house sold quickly. So did the next one. Soon, Miller patented his design and quit building homes to focus exclusively on making retractable roofs.