Sometimes my husband will turn to me and ask a question like, "Hey, what if I painted our living room electric purple and blue?" I usually like to just act like I didn't hear him, but then I run the risk of the largely one-sided conversation progressing to the point that I come home one day to discover that I am now the proud owner of an electric purple and blue living room.
Even though I don't want to live in a totally weird house, I love looking at totally weird houses. One of my favorite Instagram accounts is Weird Homes Tour, which is exactly what it sounds like. The Austin, Texas-based startup graciously posts tours of weird homes around the country, all for our visual feasting pleasure.
Weird Homes Tour staff also physically travel the country in pursuit of strange and unusual homes. They regularly make stops in San Francisco, Austin, Detroit, Houston, New Orleans, and Portland, Oregon.
Friends, this delightful house is home to Esmeralda the pig, who also shares the space with artist Nicole Charbonnet. The two live in New Orleans in an old mattress factory that Nicole has painstakingly converted into space she can live and work in.
Esmeralda isn't the only animal in the home! "Nicole’s 7,000 square foot Irish Channel home/studio was left vacant for years after Katrina until she found it. With some TLC, Nicole has transformed this once abandoned factory into someplace quite cozy. A place where the 20 ft ceilings shine plenty of light on all of Nicole’s artwork and supplies. A place where her pet dogs, pig, and chickens could call home."
This little cutie lives in Portland, Oregon, with artist parents as well! "Artist Christine Claringbold and her husband Charles aren’t afraid of color. Christine has been a working artist for over 20 years and likes to use paint as a 'living entity.' She specializes in painting colorful mandalas, psychedelic murals and objects such as guitars and suitcases. Her main focus is transforming recycled vinyl records into clocks, bowls, mirrors, jewelry and more!"
First things first, I am totally obsessed with this dog. He or she also lives with an artist in Portland (there is a bit of theme here). Owner Larry Cross is very into design that is accessible, a passion that was born out of necessity after he developed osteoporosis.
After Larry decided to buy "a 2006 SE Portland fixer upper, he created a home that is not only beautiful with its colorful splashes and filled with his sub-Saharan African collection, but also completely accessible, focusing on Universal Design principles."
Of all the homes on this list, Randy and Sandy Robertson's chicken-centric home in Austin is one of my favorites. In addition to chickens, the two play host to all kinds of pets. The henhouse even has its own special name: CLUCKINGHAM PALACE. Ha!
This gorgeous home belongs to vodou priestess Sallie Anne Glassman and her husband Pres Kabacoff, who has the decidedly less exciting but possibly more lucrative job title of real estate developer. Sallie is one of the few authentic Haitian vodou priestesses in the country, and she also runs a shop in the city.
If you've ever thought it would be super cool to buy a jail and live in it, you're going to love this home! Liz and Raul Canache decided to do just that when they came upon this jail in New Orleans in 2013. The two both live there and work there since the jail is now an inn that you can stay in. Please let me know if it's haunted!
Everything about this funny little spot in New Orleans is just a tiny bit off, in a good way. The mannequin heads, the hanging skeleton on the porch … what's not to love? "The most intriguing mystery is what lies beyond his wardrobe. People go in but do not immediately come back out. Do they find Narnia? Maybe the wardrobe holds something darker."
At first glance, this house seems pretty normal, right? Who wouldn't want a pink couch on their porch? I love it. But the more you look, the stranger it gets. The odd Hello Kitty piece here, salon equipment there, plus an animal head hanging right above the bed. Why not?
This is another chicken-friendly home that I just adore. Also, I didn't know until I saw it, but Klimt-themed beaded curtains are amazing, and I have now added "petition husband to add Klimt curtains to our own home" to the top of my to-do list. Thanks for the inspiration, weird Houston home!
Oh, Barbara. This lady's home in Austin is one of my favorites, for sure. I don't know why doll heads in glass jars are such interesting decor to me, but I'm into it. Why not put toy cowboys in birdcages and hang them from your ceiling? Who's going to stop you, Barbara? No one.
The only thing I dislike about this incredible blue home in Detroit is that there are so few photos available of it! I'd love to know more. Why did they paint it? Who painted it? What do the murals mean? Do they rent it out? Can I stay there for three weeks? Thank you.
Detroit also plays home to this wild and crazy purple and blue home that I am similarly riveted by. I love that the owners went out on a limb and decided that making sure their home is totally visible from space (I made that up) was their top priority. Yes. More of this, please.
Brandon Hodge lives in Austin and apparently loves to collect odd things. I love it! Animal heads I could do without, but the Ouija board is pretty cool. I am especially intrigued and confused by the tiny doll hands locked away in a glass box, but maybe one day Brandon will explain it all to us.
Hello, airplane home! Holy cow. Of course this home is in Portland, because where else could it be? An engineer named Bruce decided to buy a 727 Boeing jet for $100,000, and then he decided to live in it, because that was just what he felt like doing. "Campbell believes retired airplanes can be used as an excellent source for quality affordable housing. The airtight design keeps out pests and dust and they are strong and durable enough to withstand earthquakes and storms."
We'll end our home tour in Portland, in this home that most definitely reminds me of Tatooine, home to Luke Skywalker. "The Dome Home was designed and built in 1978 by Francisco Reynders, a Dutch artist, musician, actor, and mime. Reynders mistrusted right angles so he decided to build a series of nine domes linked together by flat roofs. Reynders used salvaged materials from the WWII Essex-class aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill."
