South Jersey » Strange and Unusual

The Magic Mushroom House

Roxanne — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:24:47 +0000

Featured in the New York Times, this 6,000 sq. ft home located in Aspen, Colorado was built over the course of serveral years beginning in 1973. Mr. Andre Ulrych, the house’s architect, builder, and first resident, said he took his design cues from a nautilis shell despite it’s nickname. The Magic Mushroom House was the nickname given to the home because of its appearance, decor, and the era in which it was built. 12 levels with platforms are in the home along with a number of ladders and narrow stairways. The property is now a vacation home for the current owners, Mr. and Mrs. Findlay. Check it out..

Photos by Michael Brands for The New York Times

You can read the full story No Home for Squares as well as see the slideshow of all the interior pictures.

The Toilet House

Roxanne — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 11:58:03 +0000

The toilet house was built by Sim Jae-duck, chairman of the organizing committee of the Inaugural General Assembly of the World Toilet Association. To mark the launch of the association’s first general assembly in November, South Korean sanitation activists will be lifting the lid on a lavatory-shaped home south of Seoul. Sim, a member of parliament, hopes to attract 300 representatives from 70 countries to the inaugural meeting.

The world’s one and only toilet house is a 4,508 square foot concrete and glass structure being constructed on the site of Sim’s former home in his native city of Suweon. The two storey house features 2 bedrooms, 2 guestrooms, and 3 deluxe lavatories. The cost: $1.6 million dollars to construct. It symbolizes Sim’s ongoing effort to to assist developing countries without toilets as well as promote clean and sanitary bathrooms worldwide.

Although Sim’s intentions are to reside in the property, prior to Sim moving in it will be available to rent at $50,000 per night. The proceeds will be funding the organization and supporting their cause. Sim stated that epidemics caused by poor sanitation around the world cost two million lives a year. Worldwide, 2.6 billion people live without toilets. In addition, many areas have poorly designed flush toilets waste vast amounts of potential drinking water. His campaign will focus on setting international standards for clean public toilets and that bathrooms must be treated as the sanctuary that protects human health.

The actual name of the house is Haewoojae, meaning “a place of sanctuary where one can solve one’s worries”.

You can find more information on Sim Jae-duck, the Toilet House, and the World Toilet Association from Reuters and AFP

The Guitar House

Roxanne — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 11:31:03 +0000

The Guitar House is located in Fayetteville, Georgia and was built by country western singer and songwriter, Elivs Carden. The picture below is an arial view of the home.

The completion of the Guitar House inspired his Album “Living In an Old Guitar“. Here is another older shot of the house from a different angle I found on this site. It seems to be a screen shot take from google maps.

You can check it out on the Google Maps Satellite image

Unusual Architecture From Around the World

Roxanne — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:27:26 +0000

From incredibly cool to totally weird; a collection of unusual houses and buildings from around the World.

Forest Spiral – Hundertwasser Building

Located in Darmstadt and built by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, the famous Austrian architect and painter. The Hundertwasser house “Waldspirale” with 105 apartments, wraps around a landscaped courtyard with a running stream. More Details

The Basket Building

Located in Newark, Ohio the Basket Building is the home office of The Longaberger Basket Company. Founder Dave Longaberger decided he wanted the corporate home office in a giant basket. History of the Basket Building

The Football House

Located in Blantyre, Malawi the Football House was built by Dutch Architect Jan Sonkie as his residence. Full story and photo

The Bubble House

Located in Tourettes-sur-Loup, France, and was designed by the Hungarian architect Antti Lovag. At 35 years old, it has already been listed by the French ministry of culture as an historic monument. More Details

The Crooked House – Poland

Located in Sopot, Poland at Bohaterów Monte Cassino Street the Crooked House was constructed in 2003 based off of drawings from Jan Marcin Szancer and Per Dahlberg. Additional Photos and construction details from maps.pomocnik.com

Crazy House

Located in Dalat, Vietnam the Crazy House, formerly known as Hang Nga Villa, was designed by architect Dr. Dang Viet Nga. Photo by Alasidir. More Details

The Bird House

The bird enthusiast’s dream home. Unknown location, house has over a dozen bird houses built into it’s frame. Found on berbia.com

Dancing House

Office building located in Prague, Czech Republic and designed by architects Vlado Milunić and Frank Gehry. Because the building somewhat resembles a pair of dancers it was orginially named Fred and Ginger, after Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Later it was nicknamed the Dancing House.

The Crooked House a.k.a. The Siden House a.k.a. The Glynne Arms

A historical landmark located at Himley in the West Midlands of the UK. The subsidence was caused by the mining of coal underneath and around the foundation. You can see the historical photos of the building, and featured photo curteosy of Sharpo’s World.

Thin House – London

Though there are quite a few thin houses exist around the globe, this particular Thin House is located in London, UK.

The Cookie Jar House

Located in Glendora, New Jersey designed as a cookie jar. The orginal intention was to have a community of these homes however this is the only cookie jar home built. Photo from eCache and more information at Weird NJ

Bart Prince House

Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico this was created by architect Bart Prince. Photo from Flicker

The Cave

Located in Armington, Illinois the home was one of the first underground homes in country. Photo from HGTV click for more photos and details.

McBride’s Dome House – Hawthorn

Located in Hawthorn, Australia by architects McBride Charles Ryan based off of Roy Grounds 1959 Spaceship Design. Full Story

Robot Ranch Dome House

Located in Ferris, Texas and designed by Al Schwarz the Robot Ranch contains 7 interconnected monolithic domes providing 4,144 sq ft of living space. Visit Robot Ranch for photos and information

The Vertical House

Located in Venice Beach, this is the creation of architect Lorcan O’Herlihy. The home sitting on a lot that is 25 ft. wide, has a total of 112 windows. Photos and details from openformarchitecture.com

The Kettle House

Located in Galveston, Texas made of steel in the 1950′s.

The Spaceship House

Located in Urbandale, Iowa, this property belongs to fitness club owner, LaMar.

The Log Mahal

Located in Payson, Arizona, the Log Mahal was the creation of Fred Wagenhals. The log home is over 16,000 sq. ft. and possibly the largest log cabin ever made. Watch Video

Dar Al Hajar

Located in Yemen, the Dar Al Hajar and built by Imam Yahya as a summer residence in the 1930s. More Photos

Cubic Houses of Rotterdam

Located in Rotterdam in The Netherlands, and developed by Piet Blom.

The Pod House

Located in Rochester, New York the Pod House (also know as the Mushroom House) design was inspired by the plant Queen Anne’s Lace. More info

The Mushroom House a.k.a. Tree House

Located in the Hyde Park section of Cincinatti, Ohio, the Mushroom House was designed by architect Terry Brown, a professor at the University of Cincinnatti. More Photos

The Story Book House

Located in Olalla, Washington, the Story Book House was created as a homage to Hansel & Gretel. Photo and more details from unusuallife.com

The Pyramid House – Ohio

Located in Hamilton, Ohio, the Pyramid House is actually a subterranian home, and the pyramid section is a large skylight. More details and additional photos

Gangster’s Wood House

Located in Arkhangelsk, Russia, it is believed to be the world’s tallest wooden house, soaring 13 floors to reach 144ft – about half the size of the tower of Big Ben…. and built by a ganster. Full Story

Palacio de las Artes – Palace of the Arts

Located in Valencia, Spain, the building is the opera house and is one of the buildings within the City of Arts and Sciences.

Airplane House

Located in Abuja, Nijeria this home belongs to Said and Liza Jammal. Liza requested in the early years of their marriage to have a home constructed in the shape of airplane. Almost 20 years later, the construction of the home began. Full Story

Know of other unusual properties? Post a link and I will add them to the list.

While your here, check out these posts:

The Piano House

Roxanne — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 04:21:37 +0000

Built in Aun Hui Province, China to draw intrest to a redeveloped area. The violin holds the escalator into the building.

Photo obtained from weirdasianews.com and contains additional photos of the Piano House