He designed the futuristic Sculptured House on Genesee Mountain[2] near Denver, Colorado that was featured in the Woody Allen movie Sleeper.
In his early career as an architect, Deaton started in the 1940s in New York City and St. Louis, before settling in the Denver area in 1955, where he would live for the rest of his life.
He worked in a sheet metal factory during World War II, where he discovered the ability to create any shape he could conceive, an idea he carried into his architecture career.
[13] His buildings break away from the common straight and rectangular forms of America at the time, and reflect a more Expressionist and Non-Euclidian geometry and design.
[13][12] These philosophies can be seen in his well known designs, like the Sculptured House, Key Savings and Loan Association, and Wyoming National Bank.
Deaton would model his projects as wood, plaster and clay, before drawing up architectural plans based on his original designs.
[15] His sculptural model of the Key Savings and Loan Association is still in tact and held in a collection of his drawings and works at the Denver Public Library.