Eccentric Houses

Unusual dwellings large and small, built by artists, oddballs and rich eccentrics

105 Places

Phoenix, Arizona

Mystery Castle

A self-built castle made by a mysterious man.

Added by mbison

San Jose, California

The Winchester Mystery House

A peculiar mansion built by the troubled heir to the Winchester Rifle Company fortune.

Added by mbison

Wadsworth, Illinois

Onan's Gold Pyramid House

A six-story-tall golden pyramid, surrounded by a moat.

Dylan

Rockport, Massachusetts

Paper House

An 80-year-old house built out of newspapers.

Dylan

Bellville, Texas

Newman's Castle

A medieval castle in the middle of rural Texas.

Sosúa, Dominican Republic

Castillo Mundo King

An eccentric German artist built this weird and wondrous castle packed with shocking sculptures and alien art.

Franz Explorer

Added by Franz Explorer

Spring Green, Wisconsin

House on the Rock

A bizarre house filled with an astounding array of collections.

Dylan

Galveston, Texas

The Kettle House

This tiny, hurricane-resistant house in Galveston is one of the city's most notable architectural oddities.

MommaGem

Added by MommaGem

Mamaroneck, New York

The Seely House

The "Skinny House" is made from scrap, salvage, and a neighbor’s kindness.

Richard Peevers

Added by Richard Peevers

Buena Vista, Georgia

Pasaquan

This folk art compound was built by a fortune teller on the advice of three people from the future.

Added by cathyhfussell

Tom Kelly's Bottle House

The most magnificent bottle house in a town strangely full of them.

littlebrumble

Added by littlebrumble

Collettsville, North Carolina

The House of Mugs

A cabin completely covered in coffee mugs, where visitors are welcome to leave one of their own—if they can find an empty nail.

Added by AnnaMosity

Grand Marais, Michigan

Pickle Barrel House

This little barrel-shaped cottage by Lake Superior was once a cartoonist's summer retreat.

ACReynard

Added by ACReynard

Les Fonts, Spain

Les Fonts Castle

This imposing modern citadel started out as a home renovation project.

serflac

Added by serflac

Žagarė, Lithuania

Pan House

What almost started out as a spite house became an eccentric's found object masterpiece.

ahvenas

Added by ahvenas

Smith Mansion

One man's ambition created this psychedelic log home.

musikazeek

Added by musikazeek

Winkel, Netherlands

Kremlin of the Netherlands

This miniature take on the Kremlin is one Dutch man's retirement project.

leiris

Added by leiris

Hillsborough, California

The Flintstone House

A burnt orange monolithic dome structure perched on a hillside near Interstate 280.

DuckMuscle

Added by DuckMuscle

Symon's Art Zoo

Exotic, erotic, and esoteric, one artist's live-in Bali gallery brings a splash of color and madness to its surroundings.

vibrantgreen

Added by vibrantgreen

Hamtramck, Michigan

Hamtramck Disneyland

A wacky two-story folk-art assemblage of carved and found objects, with lights, motion, and sound now in need of financial support.

Los Angeles, California

Mosaic Tile House

Rainbow-hued local gem in Venice.

rjhemedes

Added by rjhemedes

Santa Barbara, California

Franceschi Park

The home of one of California's most important horticulturalists wilts amidst a lovely park.

KirstenCunningham

Added by KirstenCunningham

Santa Barbara, California

Whale House

This stunning sea creature-shaped home blends into the landscape like a fantasy villa.

Evan Nicole Brown

Added by Evan Nicole Brown

Callejon de Hamel

A colorful narrow alley in Cuba is full of street art and sculptures made of found objects.

cguttery

Added by cguttery

Casa de Azucar

The house's confection-like decorations are the result of one man's painstaking work over decades.

josephwbeck

Added by josephwbeck

Câmpina, Romania

Iulia Hasdeu Castle

This eccentric folly house was designed by Romanian thinker Bogdan-Petriceicu Hasdeu, with a helping hand from his deceased daughter's spirit.

Added by chaosmatriarch

Yangon, Myanmar

Chin Tsong Palace

This extravagant villa built by a Burmese merchant is part pagoda and part European mansion.

Added by andrew4

Dunedin, New Zealand

Larnach Castle

One of New Zealand’s few castles boasts beautiful gardens, grand architecture, and a history filled with family drama.

rachealanne83

Added by rachealanne83

Sezincote, England

Sezincote Estate

A majestic mansion designed in Mughalai style, complete with a turquoise onion dome.

Added by Spacepose

Hammondsport, New York

T.M. Younglove Octagon House

In the mid-19th century, an eight-sided house was the latest fad.

Added by cramnamtor

Carrabelle, Florida

Carrabelle Bottle House

The bottle house obsession struck a Florida man in his retirement, and now he can't stop building.

Mom0ja

Added by Mom0ja

San Simeon, California

Hearst Castle

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.

Added by jedijoel

Toronto, Ontario

Casa Loma

A 98-room castle in the middle of Toronto that bankrupted a 19th century electricity multimillionaire.

lewblank

Added by lewblank

Henderson, Nevada

The Simpsons House

Originally built as a promotional giveaway, this suburban house was designed to be an IRL version of the Simpson home.

EricGrundhauser

Added by EricGrundhauser

Exmouth, England

A La Ronde

Two women with a flair for both adventure and artful clutter created this singular round home.

Kewanee, Illinois

Woodland Palace

The dream home of an iconoclastic renaissance man still stands as a monument to his domestically mundane vision.

Henry County

Added by Henry County

Cincinnati, Ohio

The Cincinnati Mushroom House

What is it about mushrooms that makes people wish they lived inside of them?

Added by michaeljsnyder

Talkeetna, Alaska

Dr. Seuss House aka The Goose Creek Tower

This whimsical stacked cabin looks like something out of a children's book.

EricGrundhauser

Added by EricGrundhauser

Quthing, Lesotho

Masitise Cave House Museum

This odd little home was built right into an African rock face.

katieb82981

Added by katieb82981

Vincent City

An eccentric artist's abode in this small Italian town has been transformed into a surreal temple of mosaic madness.

EricGrundhauser

Added by EricGrundhauser

Woodstock, Illinois

George Stickney House

This softly rounded mansion was built without corners not to avoid evil spirits, but to make them more comfortable.

EricGrundhauser

Added by EricGrundhauser

Great Dunmow, England

Talliston House & Gardens

An English artist has turned an unassuming ex-council house into a time-lost house of mystery.

Trevillian

Added by Trevillian

Los Angeles, California

Ennis House

This weird abode has inspired everything from the "House on Haunted Hill" to a robot hunter's pad.

mark hayward

Added by mark hayward

Pacifica, California

McCloskey Castle

Abortion, prohibition, religion, war, and fear all play a part in the history of this idiosyncratic Pacifica castle.

EricGrundhauser

Added by EricGrundhauser

Brunswick, Germany

Happy Rizzi House

Bursting forth from a historic German neighborhood, these day-glo palaces are now a bright fixture in the town.

Added by DoctorMoog42

West Liberty, Ohio

Piatt Castles

This pair of eccentric Ohio castles were built by a pair of brothers who wanted to bring a bit of class to the Ohio wilderness.

Added by isabellkyrk

Coober Pedy, Australia

Crocodile Harry's Underground Nest & Dugout

This eccentric cave dwelling is bizarre even by the standards of a subterranean town.

EricGrundhauser

Added by EricGrundhauser

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