Collection by Mayra McCullough
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The floating home, originally constructed in 1968 by Forbes Kiddoo, that Marka Hansen and Joe Brubaker recreated with designer Michelle Chan and builder Steve Crutchfield of True North Construction bobs in a berth at the historical Waldo Point Harbor in Sausalito, California, just north of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.
Shipping container architecture is certainly nothing new—but this upcycled shipping container nestled into a hillside site in Terrasini, Italy, is an impressive interpretation of the typology. Dubbed the “Container Suite”, it’s surrounded by prickly pears and features an enormous glazed facade overlooking the landscape.
The appropriately named Cliff House, located in the historic McElmo Canyon just 40 minutes from Mesa Verde, is the perfect base for an adventure. Designed to appear like a quaint timber cabin, complete with front porch, the home is actually built directly onto the red rock wall of Sleeping Ute Mountain and opens out to a beautiful dessert garden landscaped with native plants.
Inside, the home’s cliffside location becomes even more dramatic, with walls formed from the red rock itself. The rest of the interior and furnishings are kept purposefully minimalistic as a neutral backdrop to the natural beauty of the rock face. The shape of the rock has also been used to define the interior architecture—take, for example, the book nook hidden in a natural alcove.
The Bloomhouse was designed and built by architects Charles Harker and Dalton Bloom when they were students back in 1984—and since then it’s been compared to everything from a seashell to a unicorn. It was restored in 2017 and has become arguably one of the world’s weirdest rental homes. Located in a wooded valley on the outskirts of Austin, Texas, the whimsical home is all sinuous curves and sweeping organic lines. As the Airbnb listing puts it: “Without one straight line or corner in the entire structure, your thoughts are free of the constraints that our angular world creates.”
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