A home might be elaborately decorated or unadorned, simple or complex, big or little. Either brick and mortar or animal feces can be used to construct it, both have their uses. A home is something more abstract, and what one considers a home, the place “where the heart is,” can be something commonplace like the well-known Levittown development in the suburbs of New York City in the 1950s, or it can be something extraordinary like the homes that are displayed in this slideshow.
Some of the houses were constructed for the people who would eventually live in them, some were renovated many years later by admirers and preservationists, while others were simply imaginative works of art in the same vein as other great works of art.
Apartments in the Ramot Polin neighborhood of Jerusalem
After the conclusion of the Six Day War in 1967, Israeli officials commissioned Zvi Heckler to construct a housing complex for Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem. This complex was built after the Israelis won control of the entire city of Jerusalem. Heckler was given carte blanche to build the structure anyway he saw fit, and the end product is an apartment complex in the shape of five fingers that all link in the center like the fingers of a hand, but which the majority of onlookers refer to as a beehive.
The construction of the Ramot Polin flats was finished in 1977, and they are located in Tel Aviv in a location that is approximately a 40-minute drive from Ben Gurion Airport.
Sliding House Suffolk, England
This house may be found in Suffolk, England, and it features both a mobile external frame and a glass frame on the inside. This enables the owner, Ross Russell, and his wife to remove the exterior frame during the winter months, thereby permitting the sun to heat the interior of the building like it would in a greenhouse. On the other hand, the exterior frame must be reinstalled during the summer months in order to prevent the sun from heating the building’s interior. The Russell family has a remote control that allows them to move their house, which is powered by a set of car batteries and travels along a set of rail wheels. You can watch it in action in this video that was aired on HGTV.
The Neverwas House is located in Vallejo, California.
This residence is the result of putting H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine together with the Burning Man festival. This three-story Victorian style house on wheels was constructed in 2006 by Shanon and Kathy O’Hare of Obtainium Works, which is situated in Vallejo, California. The house was built with the intention of being transported through the Black Rock Desert in order to participate in the Burning Man festival. “Welcome all like-minded individuals who wish to engage in our ongoing project,” the O’Hares said, referring to the festival’s 10 principles, which include “radical inclusivity and self-reliance.”
The transportable “party bus” can be booked for events such as Burning Man or a wedding reception if you are unable to go to the southeast region of California for the festival.
The Heliotrope House Freiburg am Breisagau, Germany
The Heliotrope House, which can be seen in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, is unique in that it not only runs on solar power but also revolves around the sun. In order to prevent overheating during the scorching months of summer, the house is designed to rotate to face away from the sun. The home is the first of its sort, as far as its architect Rolf Disch is aware, to produce more energy than it needs at any given time.
Beer Can House Houston (Houston, Texas)
John Milkosovich developed an ingenious use for empty beer cans. In 1968, he started working on developing a house that was both ornamented with and made of them. According to estimates provided by Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, Milkosovich, a former employee of Southern Pacific Railroad who now resides in Houston, used more than 50,000 beer cans in the construction of the structure. Some people say this is sculpture, but I didn’t go to any expensive school to get these crazy notions, so don’t believe that John was trying to mimic Rembrandt or that he thought himself to be a part of the postmodern art movement. John once commented, “Some people say this is sculpture.”
The Beer Can House is presently owned by the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, which allows guests to tour the home even though John and his wife Mary have both died away.
France’s Heliodome Coswiller was the location.
The Heliodome, much like the Heliotrope, is meant to be powered by solar energy; but, in contrast to the Heliotrope, this home does not revolve. Instead, it is tilted in such a way that it receives shade during the summer months when the sun is higher in the sky. However, during the winter months, the angle is optimized to receive solar energy from the sun when it is lower in the sky. This residence in Coswiller, France, designed by Eric Wasser and known more colloquially as the Sundial House may be found in France.
Keret House Warsaw
The Keret House, which is sandwiched in between two other structures, serves as a transitional structure between the pre-war and post-war eras of Warsaw. The architect Jakub Szczesny spotted the space between these two buildings and was inspired to design this cottage as a memorial to his parents who were slain in the Holocaust. The house is just 5 feet wide. The house serves as a short-term residence for visiting authors. If you are looking for it, there is a tram journey away from the city center that takes twenty minutes, but if you blink, you will miss it.
Stone House Fafe, in the country of Portugal
The Casa do Penedo, also known as the House of Stone, can still be found in the Portuguese countryside despite the fact that the Stone Age ended some 10,000 years ago. The house is a striking illustration of the chasm that exists between the 21st century and the time before civilisation. It was originally constructed in 1974 as a getaway for the family of the home’s owner; but, due to the property’s increasing popularity, it is now impossible for the present owner to escape civilization. Although the building does not have power, it does feature a fireplace and windows that are resistant to bullets.
New York’s Boldt Castle, located on Alexandria Bay
Around the year 1900, millionaire George Boldt, who was the proprietor of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, had the intention of building this residence as a tribute to his wife, Louise. Unfortunately, Boldt’s beloved was killed in an accident in 1904, and building was suspended as a result. Since 1977, tens of millions of dollars’ worth of donations have assisted in the preservation of the property, which today houses a museum consisting of six distinct buildings. During the months of May through October, the only way to reach the Boldt Castle, which is situated on the St. Lawrence River close to the town of Alexandia Bay, is by boat.
Luke Skywalker’s residence Tozeur, Tunisia
This is the house that Luke Skywalker grew up in, or at least the set that was utilized for the younger version of Luke Skywalker’s life on Tatooine in Star Wars. The desert of Tunisia, which served as the fictional planet in the 1977 film (and is also used in 2002’s Attack of the Clones and 2005’s Revenge of the Sith), was discovered by the scout Mark Dermul, who was responsible for finding the film’s settings there. In modern times, Dermul acts as a guide for pilgrims who are interested in visiting the sites.
Tozeur, which is an hour’s flight from Tunis, is the city that is located the most directly adjacent to the desert site.