What are the strange houses of the world?
Where are these strange homes located?
Would you consider inhabiting in any of these strange houses in the world? Here are our top picks for you:
Do You Have Love for Nature?
The Stone House in Portugal
It is the house set between two rocks and it looks more suited in a post-apocalyptic world. The two massive boulders might look out of place but they sit just right to allow for the sidings to be added for converting it into a shelter. Fully fitted with a roof, windows, a door, and even a chimney, this unconventional home looks completely medieval.
Built in two years starting in 1972, Casa doPenedo, as it is officially known, is a huge attraction in Northern Portugal. Unfortunately, it is no longer the holiday home that it was first envisioned as, but rather a museum for the town that it sits in. Still, its uniqueness as a strange house in the world is something to celebrate because it is hard to replicate such a design.
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The Monsato houses in Portugal
These houses do bring something similar to the table if boulders are your defining feature of a strange house.
Hobbit House in Wales
The LOTR franchise is forever etched in our sci-fi loving minds, but it is very far removed from reality. That is unless you are thinking of the Hobbit and his cozy little house set in the earth. One avid fan, and also very talented visionary, recreated his idea of the Hobbit house with truly exceptional results. While the design might not be overly unique, the surrounding Black Mountains, the lush greenery, and breathtaking views earn this particular house a place in the spotlight as one of the strange homes and crazy cool houses around the world.
The Turf Houses in Iceland
These strange houses may not have the same exciting backstory, but they are neat looking and have some Viking history to them. And from the sky, they are mostly invisible as they blend into the earth with the greenery above them.
Do You Hate Space?
One-Sqm-House in Germany
Outside the functional amenities, space is quite often the other prerequisite for a home. That is unless you are averse to space or have very little of it to work with from the start. Some architects take the lack of space not as a hurdle, but rather as an inspiration to create something distinctive. There is the One-Sqm-House in Germany, for instance, which is more of a closet than a house and can be included in the list of the strangest houses in the world.
Keret House of Poland
If all you have is height with little width, this Keret House is perhaps all you can have. With only 1.5m at its widest point, this slender house is a class of its own and is one of the strange houses around the world.
Residential Church XL in the Netherlands
If you are on the opposite side of the spectrum and want as much strange space as can be spared, how about looking into a church converted into a home? There is nothing that makes you feel closer to your maker quite like a home built in a former place of worship. The Residential Church XL is a cathedral turned home, that, needless to say, is based on white décor. The ceilings are high, the windows are wide and long, and the space is extravagant. It’s hard to imagine doing anything ungodly in these strange houses, but then again that is the allure.
Do You Want to Have Fun?
Slide House in Japan
The things acceptable to kids might as well be acceptable to adults in these houses. Take for instance, this Slide House in Japan. What passes for stairs in one hallway is replaced by stairs on the other. Located in Tokyo, Japan, it is exquisitely designed with finely finished wooden floors that put the fun in function. While admittedly it would be more fun to have with kids around, it is nonetheless unique as one of the strange houses around the world.
House NA
If you love light a little too much and aren’t afraid of sharing yourself with the world, then this House NA offers plenty of both. Also, located in Tokyo, Japan, this Sou Fujimoto Architects strange houses creation hides no secrets.
With its facades made entirely out of clear glass, it is meant to be as ‘out there’ as can be with the interiors being visible to all. It draws inspiration from tree-dwelling ancestors, and although its contemporary design might suggest otherwise, it is still a sight to behold.
Mirror Home
For the opposite, the Mirror Home in Almere, Netherlands, offers glass exteriors but with a reflective surface so it blends into the environment completely. Its architecture makes it one of the strange houses of the world.
The Flintstones House
If your pockets are deep enough and loved the Flintstone’s, there is a Malibu property inspired by them that is as fun as it sounds.
Beer Can House
For beer lovers, there is a Beer Can House in Florida. It is on the market that is covered in beer cans throughout its walls and ceiling. While the house is surprisingly modest for our list as it has no other outstanding qualities, the fact that it fetched for over $100,000 means it’s quite exceptional.
Do you have likings for weird shapes?
Upside-Down House in Germany
Rectangular is the go-to shape when it comes to houses both rustic and contemporary. It provides the perfect balance of space and functionality. So naturally when you traverse into the strange or weird, the shape is the first thing to adjust. And when it comes to strange houses, unlikely shapes serve quite a long list of options.
Take the Upside-Down House in Trassenheide, Germany, for example, which is quite literally a house flipped on its roof. Developed by Polish architects, this unconventional piece is not only flipped on the outside, but on the inside too. For many, it is the strangest house in the world.
Upside Down House in Poland
Just like the above this house has its existence in Szymbark Poland and has since become a huge crowd pleaser. It took five times as long to build because the construction team couldn’t quite adjust to the unorthodox orientation of all the fittings and fixtures.
Streamline Home in Austria
For the space buffs, the Streamline Home in Inverloch, Austria, brings the spacecraft themed home to life. Its low-lying profile and seaside surroundings complete the otherworldly effect.
The Seashell house in Isla Mujeres, Mexico
This house draws inspiration from the sea with its shell shape and unblemished white facades. It is an extravagant piece complete with 3 bedrooms and a private pool. It is listed on Airbnb so it is one of the few strange homes around the world you can get to enjoy a stay in.
The Old Water Tower in Belgium
It is a repurposed old water tower 100 feet above the ground. One can only imagine how good those 360-degree views must be.
Dupli.Casa in Germany
For those into more abstract shapes, there is Dupli.Casa in Germany that offers something unique and interesting. It looks distorted and brings to mind the work of renaissance artists.
Cloud House in Melbourne
It brings a touch of modern art into an otherwise century-old Edwardian home. The wood detailing and overlooking views of the pool are something to behold.
Imagination is often described as infinite and with a big enough canvas, there is nothing that can’t be brought to life. While we perceive homes to follow a time-tested formula of laying down brick and throwing a roof over it, this is not always the case. These non-conformists believe in traversing every boundary, and by serving their unique tastes, they offer us a glimpse into the unconventional.
In our unrestrained world where freedom can be expressed in limitless ways, architecture is one of the purest forms in which it can be explored. In reality, the number of strange houses or strange mansions exceeds the aforementioned, but the above ones sparked our interest with their weird qualities to warrant a mention.
Source: Strategies Online
