There is surprisingly little information available on the Kettle House in Galveston, Texas.

It is a very interesting-looking structure.  Rumor has it that it was built in the 1950′s, and that it is the top of a silo turned upside down and roofed.  Most of the internet comments out there comment on the fact that it managed to survive Hurricane Ike – a 2009 hurricane classified as a Tropical Depression Nine.  Ike was a horrible hit to Texas, killing 6000 people in just a few hours.  It was the worst hurricane to hit Galveston since 1900.

The address of the Kettle House is 14108 San Luis Pass Road.

Treat, Shade, and Roggs wrote a book called Weird Texas, wherein they say that the house was built by a guy who used to build oil storage tanks.  According to locals, nobody lives in the Kettle House, yet a man comes and does maintenance on the property every so often, only to disappear for long periods of time.

How cool would it be to talk to the guy who holds the keys to the Kettle House?  Why doesn’t a citizen of Galveston approach the guy next time he shows up and ask him some questions?  If any brave soul is willing to do so, they are guaranteed an exclusive interview and some mad props here on You Live Where.  Until then, I guess we’ll just have to speculate as to why someone would build a house that looks like a tea kettle, and if the weirdo internet rumor is true that it actually works like a tea kettle (?!?!) and if it is, in fact, designed to float during a flood.

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We don’t usually delve into celebrity news and scoops, but when I saw the specs on Perry Farrell’s Venice, CA home that went up for sale several months ago, I know I just had to write it up here.  The home sold on May 25, so unfortunately you can’t count on me for the latest news about homes for sale (at least not yet) but the founder of Lollapalooza and front man of Janes Addiction’s house is far too cool not to tell you about.

First off, there’s the exterior.  It’s hard to believe that it used to be a standard post-war California bungalow, because this house’s exterior is the furthest thing from that.  It’s totally black, with a barrel-curved roof (and of course, the ceiling inside is curved as well) and it looks very, I don’t know, black and barrel-like.  And shiny.

Well, shiny in parts.  The original listing said that the “rock musician” took advantage of the Southern California weather, and Farrell has always been a bid of an environmentalist, so it wouldn’t surprise me if this dark exterior has something to do with solar heat and a wicked-efficient indoor heating and cooling setup.  In addition, there is also one whole wall that slides open (like a sliding glass door) so that the indoors can incorporate some outdoors.  There is also a rooftop deck.

The first floor of the house features an open floor plan.

Open floor plan with a barrel ceiling

The master bath has a sunken tub (and by sunken we mean directly in the floor) and cool floating sinks.  Two vanities are key, no matter if you’re a rock star or not.

The property also features a three-car garage, a rock and cactus garden.  One drawback?  Laundry in the garage.  Even the wives of rock stars (and the rock stars themselves) have to schelp to the garage to do the wash.

Either way, it’s a pretty cool house, and I bet you’re sorry you didn’t know to save up $1.425 million to buy it.  Oh well.  Maybe next time.

Do you like learning about celebrity homes?  If so, I’d be happy to find some more for you.  Comment below!

We’ve heard of people living in trees, people living in caves, and even more unconventional housing, but here is a new one that is really cool – but cramped.  Airplane homes!

We read about this on a website that is one of our faves.  Airplane living would be a little restrictive – sure.  The square footage is limited, the windows are small (but plentiful!) and the flow is a little strange.  But it is definitely an interesting way to live.  Not sure if I’d want one myself – at least not for all the time.  Maybe for a summer home?

Surprisingly, this airplane house is not the only airplane house in the whole world.  In fact, several people have bought airplanes and turned them into houses.  We found one article that outlines just how much someone spent to turn their airplane into a home.  A lady named JoAnn Ussery bought a Boeing 727-224 after her home was destroyed in an ice storm.  She paid $2000 for it, $4000 to move it, and put about $24000 into it to make it a home.  She was interviewed on a slew of TV programs.  Unfortunately, Ussery only got to live in her airplane house for four years before it fell off a truck and got damaged.

Several other people tout the virtues of living in airplane homes.  one electrical engineer doesn’t understand why anyone would want to live any other way.  He says that the metal structure of the plane protects against the elements and unwanted bugs and rodents, and that the fact that the plane is sealed and pressurized makes for a long life for the home.

Convinced, or do you think these people are nuts?  Make sure you add your comment below

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In 1979, Michael Kahn and Leda Livant moved to a rural three-acre plot of land in Cornville, Arizona.  Allowed to stay on the property rent-free, Kahn and Livant started building what would become Eliphante immediately, living in an 8′ x 10′ wooden shack that Michael had thrown up to keep them safe during the winter.    It had no plumbing, no electricity, and Leda says it was the best home she’d ever had – they called it their “Winter Palace.”

They lived in their “Winter Palace” for the next five years while they built the main building that would be Eliphante, and the surrounding buildings, one of which would be called Hippodome, named this because it looks like a hippopotamus rising out of a body of water.  Livant lives in the Hippodome now – Kahn died a few years ago from a form of dementia.  The Hippodome has a phone and running water and electricity, but no bathroom.  Livant showers in a shower house that is solar-powered (and is pretty much just a hose in a shack), and if she needs to use the restroom she does it in the outhouse, or sometimes right out in the open.  The property is fairly secluded, and is only accessible across a stream.  Sometimes the stream is low enough that a car can just drive across it.  Other times, you have to take a canoe.

Their story is one of magic and tragedy – romance and heartbreak.  Livant was a suburban mother of two, married to a a psychologist.  She dabbled in painting and drawing, but lived her suburban life and volunteered in the community.  When her kids were a little older (one in college, the other in high school), Livant and her husband went on vacation to Cape Cod.  That’s where Livant’s whole life turned upside down.

Michael Kahn was a painter, ten years younger than Livant, and she fell for him immediately.  She left her husband and her kids, and moved in with Kahn, taking housecleaning jobs to support them.  All he ever wanted to do was paint.  When they moved to Arizona they built and when he wasn’t building he was painting.  Livant blossomed as an artist, and learned to weave as well as developed her painting skills.   They were happy together.

The house that was born of their union is part madness, part magic.  It is made of found objects and driftwood and any other thing they could find to build it.  They have mosaic tile work that used salvaged tiles from someone’s kitchen remodel.  They’ve made interesting use of AstroTurf.

Though they started building in 1979, Eliphante &  Hippodome and everything around them was consistently a work-in-progress.  In 1987 Eliphante LTD was formed – a non-profit art company – and in 1994 the Smithsonian listed it with their Save Outdoor Sculpture movement.  The property is in a state of disarray – in need of about $30000 worth or repairs.  Livant doesn’t have the money, and Kahn wasn’t able to secure a grant before he died.  Let’s hope that someone comes in to do what needs to be done to preserve this artistic treasure.

Entrance - the central curved beam looks like an elephant's trunk

Interior shot of Eliphante

Ms. Livant

ceiling and ceiling fan - mylar decor

It may not be the prettiest thing on the outside, but these dome-shaped eco-friendly houses sure are pretty on the inside.  Plus, they are great if you want to live in an environmentally friendly house that turns on a dime.

Well, not on a dime.  It actually has this little engine inside that rotates it, but hey!  It rotates!  Not only awesome for taking advantage of the light and solar energy, but also wicked fun for dance parties.  OK, maybe not, but it’s still pretty neat that you can turn your house so that certain windows face the sun at certain times.  Great if you’re trying to soak up your Vitamin D, cure jaundice, or avoid showing all your guests Mrs. Roberts’ proclivity for nude sunbathing during your daughter’s baby shower.  All big pluses; plus did I mention that it’s environmentally friendly?

Here’s how.  The inside is made from laminated wood beams, while the outside is shingled with red cedar.  No metal, it’s all just sort of glued together in a really sturdy way.  The insulation is made from raw cork, which is a very catchwordy, green-thing-of-the-moment type of material.

These Domespaces originated in (where else?) France, but you can buy one here from a company called Solaleya.  They’ve got different sizes to choose from, but unfortunately not different speeds to choose from.  The houses turn very slowly.  Not fast like a carnival ride.  So what’s the point?  Oh yeah.  The environment.

From the people that brought you ball in a cup comes house on a stick! If you loved trying to get the ball in the cup, then you’ll love trying to not fall in the water walking up and down to your front door. This was actually inspired by billboards as you can easily see. I just can’t seem to get in my head how that box on a pole is stable in the ocean. Of course,  I wouldn’t mind going to work everyday in a speedboat and you’d definitely have plenty of privacy.  One thing’s for sure, you’re not going for a quick jog any time soon.

It’s exactly what you think it is. This 1.6 million dollar toilet, was designed to promote Sim Jae-Duck’s campaign for cleaner bathrooms around the world and especially in developing countries. He will showcase a state -of-the-art bathroom inside for patrons to come inside and see. The best part: the lid opens automatically as soon as you walk in. Are you jealous and wish you lived inside a toilet, too? If you act now, you can rent the toilet house for only 50,000 clams a day before he moves in on November 11.

This “shell house” is from Japan (there they go again) and was designed by Kotaro Ide. Unfortunately, there is no one angle that you can look at this house from and see all the curves and beauty. They saythat the two sections are supposed to represent a conch, but how they do that is beyond me. All I know is with an exterior like that, who cares about the inside? Although I do imagne I would feel a bit exposed without conventonials walls and being surrounded mostly by windows, but at least there’s plenty of sunlight. I find that it’s a nice balance between modern tastes and blending with the landscape.

This big beauty off Lincoln Highway in Hellam, PA is bound to give people some “kicks.” Get it? Ah, whatever. Sure, there could have been more detail in the exterior, but you’re still living in a freakin’ shoe. Seems to me that if you want to live in a shoe, you should at least make it distinct looking. Now that I think about it, all they have to do is paint the band near the toes and then you’re living in a foot/sandal combo. Now that’s unprecendented!

Drivers in the Montrose neighborhood of Houston TX had a surprise in store with the Inversion Tunnel House, a temporary artwork project which turned two homes scheduled for demolition into a warped work of art with a an apparent vortex through the property!

Art League artists, Havel and Ruck, converted the dwellings into an apparent whole house but with a twist – a vortex through the middle of the homes which gives the impression of a twister hitting the homes from the side.  Using existing wood and materials, they created the appearance of the side of the dwelling being sucked through to the other side, but there’s no danger of being whisked away as if you’re small enough, you can crawl through the vortex to the other side of the property. Even for “larger” viewers, the artwork presented a cool visual image.

The outside of the homes, which had been used to exhibit art for the last 30 years, were peeled away and replaced in a contracting spiral which progressed through the outer shell of the buildings clear through to the other side.  The effect was a truly mind bending piece of art which while looking visually stunning,  also allowed the observer to get inside the building in a very different way compared to simply walking through a door.

In this instance, art is merely fleeting as the property and artwork were demolished in 2005 to make way for the new Art League building which now occupies the plot.  Nevertheless, we still have the photographs of a unique piece of art.

photo by Nick Douglas