No cookie-cutter houses here …
If architecture is the art and science of erecting buildings, what happens when you add imagination to the mix? Well, you get some pretty unusual — and funny-looking — homes. Which one of these would you like to live in?
• The Haines Shoe House
This home is the stuff of fairy tales. Located in Hellam, Pennsylvania, it was built in 1948 by Col. Mahlon “Shoe Wizard” Haines as a sales gimmick to promote his shoe empire. It measures 48 feet long, 17 feet across at its widest and stands 25 feet tall. Inside, you’ll find a five-level home with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and a living room. The new owners offer tours, where you can stop for an ice cream cone in the sole!
• The Flintstone House
The locals call it The Flintstone House, but Faux Flintstone would be a better description. Designed by artist Norah Pierson, this polyurethane-foam creation blends into the sandstone cliffs in Lamy, New Mexico. For the camouflage about 10,000 pounds of foam was sprayed over conventional frame-and-cinder-block construction. Looks funny, but the foam helps control the temperature inside. Yabadabadoo!
• The Half House
This tiny house at 302 Park Ave. in Charlevoix, Michigan, is the smallest of several Hobbit-like homes built by Earl Young beginning in the late 1930s. The whimsical residences, whose wavy overhanging shingled roofs give them the look of mushrooms, fit Young just right — the real estate developer was just 5-feet-4. The homes are hot sellers when they occasionally come on the market. Just don’t invite the basketball team over for dinner!