7 Weirdest Homes That Defy Reality

A common complaint among fans of home-improvement shows is that all modern houses are starting to look the same: White and gray, with a requisite kitchen island. Well, not these houses, which take a radically different approach to at least one architecture rule, sometimes several. It could be their size, their shape, or, say, being patterned after a gigantic sea creature. These are seven of the weirdest, most norm-defying homes in the world. 

This completely inverted home in Trassenheide, Germany, was designed as a special exhibit titled "The World Stands on Its Head." Polish architects Klaudiusz Golos and Sebastion Mikuciuk say they didn't build the house to make a statement; they just wanted to do something different. The home took six weeks and $200,000 to build; it's open to the public.

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Miziara is a Lebanese city that prides itself on its reputation for unusual architecture. Some of the homes in the area resemble ancient temples, pyramids, and palaces. This one, built by a wealthy couple in 1975, replicates a wide-body passenger jetliner and includes 41 porthole windows and two floors.

This toilet-shaped structure in Suweon, Korea, was built in 2007 by a man named Sim Jae-deok, who wanted to draw attention to global sanitation issues and later led the World Toilet Association. He named the home—which includes two bedroom and two baths—Haewoojae, which means "a place of sanctuary where one can solve one's worries." 

This Malibu, California, house was owned by the late entertainment maestro Dick Clark, whose widow sold it in 2014 for $1.7 million. Clark had trouble getting a permit to build in the area, when architect Phillip Jon Brown suggested a structure that would blend into the nearby rock formations. Almost everything in the organically shaped house is made of stone and, like most of mankind's first homes, it has an open floor plan. 

Measuring only four feet wide, the Keret House in Warsaw, Poland, is officially called an "art installation" because it doesn't meet building codes. The skinny home manages to contain a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen; to compensate for its total lack of windows, it's semi-transparent. Built by architect Jakub Szczesny in 2012, it now hosts traveling writers and artists.

House NA in Tokyo, Japan, comprises 21 glass boxes spaced at differing heights. "The house acts as both a single room and a collection of rooms," the architect says, touting the home as "a setting for a range of activities that can take place at different scales. The house provides spaces of intimacy if two individuals choose to be close, while also accommodating for a group of guests by distributing people across the house."

https://sbwhalehouse.com/

This house in Santa Barbara, California, is, as advertised, shaped like a whale. And it's on the market. "This one-of-a-kind, architecturally magical masterpiece is exquisite from head to tail—literally!" the real estate listing says. "Step through the whale's mouth and let the imaginative lifestyle begin." The three-story home includes a rock-covered elevator shaft, 270 stained glass windows, and a courtyard in he belly of the whale. And there is a pool. All that can be yours for $3.25 million.