Monday, February 6th, 2012



It is a commonly held adage that a man’s house is his castle.  A forward-thinking individual in San Juan, Dominican Republic took this old saying to a whole new level.  With glistening white towers and graceful arched windows, it’s easy to imagine this abode nestled firmly in the midst of a Caribbean fairy tale.  That [...]

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.    [...]

Home designers may focus on the setting for their designs but the ideal for ecologically sound development is simply minimizing or completely negating the impact of development. Making the house “disappear” by blending the development into the surrounding landscape is one design development finding a degree of credibility after a shaky start. Painting existing development [...]

The World’s Tallest Log Cabin – The Wooden Skyscraper photo by the constant skeptic He is Nikolai Sutyagin.  He is a man who has seen it all.  Well, if not “all”, he’s seen quite a lot.  He was born and raised in a lowly communal flat in Arkhangelsk, Russia.  That’s in the northern part of [...]

It is a piece of social commentary art that speaks out against injustice and anti-humanitarianism.  It is a tourist attraction.  It is the labor of love conceived by a visionary Polish businessman and entrepreneur.   It is also an upside down house. The aforementioned Polish businessman, Daniel Czapiewski, owns a company that builds wooden houses [...]

The term “earthship” is a bit of an overstatement. The name connotes an earthen vessel which slowly creeps over the sea or air, perhaps carrying with it a crew representing earth’s only hope. The reality, while cool, is not nearly that cool. The earthships of reality are made by Earthship Biotecture of Taos, New Mexico [...]

According to the New York Times article, the owner of this early 19th century farmhouse purchased it knowing fully well how close it sits to train tracks. The poor location apparently drove down the price of the house, a boon in an already down housing market. However, upon viewing this dramatic photo, I have to [...]

I bet you’ve dreamed of living on your very own island, away from the stresses of everyday life, surrounded by beauty, great weather and stunning fauna and flora. It was a line in Robinson Crusoe that resonated with me when Daniel Defoe wrote “I was absolute lord and lawgiver, they all owed their lives to [...]

This house sure is a doozy, or at least the fall from it is. The archway at the bottom, while sacrificing some stability, is a nice touch. Do you think that the designer of this house likes roofs? As if this house needed to be more top-heavy. My real question is: Where is the electricity [...]

I can’t think of a more precarious setting than what’s going on here. Doesn’t it seem that eventually, due to weathering and whatnot, that the gap would keep widening until the house fell through? At least they don’t need a security system or apparently a door for that matter. I just can’t stop wondering where [...]