The Most Bizarre Homes in the World
By Emily Tatti on 21 Jun 2013
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Can you imagine living inside a giant conch shell or in a house straight out of The Jetsons? While the idea seems unusual to most of us, there are homeowners out there who have tested the bounds of architecture in order to build their dream house.
From the spectacular to the spectacularly strange, we took a look at some of these bizarre structures.
Photo: The Everingham Rotating House
Right here in Australia, the Everingham Rotating House in Taree, NSW easily claims its title as one of our most innovative designs. Constructed of glass and steel, the octagonal structure was built on a turntable, which allows it to rotate up to 360 degrees to make the most of the day-to-day weather. It weighs an incredible 50 tonnes. A spacious deck wraps around the house, allowing the owners to enjoy panoramic views of the surrounding Manning Valley mountains and the Nowendoc River.
You could be forgiven for thinking the Space House, a flying saucer-like structure on Signal Mountain in Tennessee, is ET’s true home. The oddball house was constructed in the 1970s by builders who wanted to launch a series of similar looking houses across the country – apparently this was their vision of the 21st century. Unfortunately, they were struck by money problems and their dreams were never realised, but the three-storey house remains a popular attraction with photographers and families. The house went up for auction in 2008, when it was purchased by an anonymous buyer for $135,000.
Photo: World Architecture News
The Nautilus House is also noted for its unusual shape, though it looks more suited to a tropical island than a hillside overlooking Mexico City. The home was built for a young family in 2006 as an example of “bio-architecture,” blending an organic theme with eco-friendly materials. Designed to look like a snail, parts of its interior are carpeted with plants, while pieces of furniture appear to grow straight out of the walls.
The Transparent House in Japan is exactly what it sounds like – a house made entirely out of sheer glass. Comprised of 21 platforms linked together by movable stairs and ladders, Tokyo architect Sou Fujimoto wanted to capture the feeling of living in a tree, where inhabitants can see each other through various ‘branches.’ We’re thinking privacy might be a bit of an issue!
Perhaps the most unusual house on our list is the Keret House in Warsaw, Poland. Wedged in a passageway between two other buildings, the tiny structure measures only 1.2 metres at its widest point and 68 centimetres at its narrowest. Talk about a tight fit! Polish architect Jakub Szczesny designed the building not as a permanent residence, but as a workspace for artists.
If you’d like to see some other examples of outlandish architecture, take a look at this list, which includes video footage inside some of the world’s most bizarre homes.
