Frances Gabe, 101, Creator of Self-Cleaning House, Dies

Frances Gabe, the creator of the self-cleaning home, died late last year at the age of 101, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

Gabe, who lived in Newberg, Ore., built a house in 1984 that washed, rinsed and dried itself – an invention she dreamed up because she didn't want to do much cleaning.

"Housework is a thankless, unending job," she told The Ottawa Citizen in 1996, according to the Times. "It's a nerve-twangling bore. Who wants it? Nobody!"

The house took more than 10 years of work and $15,000 to complete. The finished product was basically, "a gigantic dishwasher," reported The Weekend Australian newspaper, and a washing took less than an hour to complete.

In Newberg, Gabe lived in obscurity and, "very difficult to get along with," according to Allyn Brown, her former lawyer and a longtime friend.

"Locally, she was just the kind of unique person that you often see in these small towns," Brown said. "I don't think anybody really knew her name."

Brown added: "She had an adversarial relationship with all her neighbors, and she didn't do anything to discourage it."

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