photo by Baron Moe

This palatial summer home was built by Amir al-Mumenin al-Mutawakkil ‘Ala Allah Rab ul-Alamin Imam Yahya bin al-Mansur Bi’llah Muhammad Hamidaddin, Imam and Commander of the Faithful.  Why don’t we call him Imam for short?

Imam was the King of Yemen from 1926 to 1948, when he was assassinated.  We don’t go too far into politics or anything here on YLW, but apparently he was a pretty fair and nice guy, and he had 14 sons, so they were probably pretty sad.

Back to Dar Al-Hajar, though, because is that a beautiful place or what?  Imam had the place constructed as a summer home, and it was constructed on an already-existing prehistoric structure.  This particular valley that Dar Al-Hajar overlooks is a fertile ancient land that is talked about in rock drawings, for Pete’s sake.  Scholars speculate that the old construction on top of the mountain where Dar Al-Hajar was built was older than recorded history.  That’s, needless to say, pretty darn cool.

The structure itself is 7 stories tall, with open courtyards and little pools everywhere.  It has 35 rooms and the stairs look like they were built into the rocks.  They probably were.  The entrance has a 700-year old tree in it.  Even though Imam had the place built in the 1930′s, it looks like a place completely out of time.  A place of beauty and wonder that I’m sure his 14 sons enjoyed – from ducking in and out of the courtyards to exploring the caves beneath (unless the caves were really used for corpses, as rumors say).

Dar Al-Hajar is open to the public now as a sort of museum, though the Yemen travel website says that its “only jewel is the building itself.”

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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 coming from to operate that lift? I imagine that it would be a little windy all the way up there. A great little detail that just proves the amazing things people can do with photoshop these days.

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 that ladder is coming from…

Like Rotterdam, but think that the Cactus House might just be a little too high maintenance for you with all of those plants? Looking for something a little more geometric, yet a home that still thumbs it’s nose at gravity? Then perhaps the Cube House is more your style.

Designed by Piet Blom, these are your normal, run of the mill, square European houses with a twist. A 45 degree twist to be exact. These houses were rocked 45 degrees forward and then placed onto a hexagon pedestal.

Apparently they’re not that hard to live in, either. But you don’t have to tell anyone that, let ‘em think that leaning ain’t easy.

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Hell, Nord-Trøndelag

This tiny village in Norway has a population of about 1500, and gets pretty darn cold.  Like, -4 Degrees Fahrenheit cold.  Gives new meaning to the phrase “Hell freezes over.”  The town’s name comes from the Old Norse term for “cliff cave,” but tourists who speak English like to stop by and have their pictures taken next to the sign above or at the train station, which boasts a sign that says “Gods-expedition.”  It’s a play on words with the Norwegian term godsekspedisjon, which means “cargo handling.”  Fun.

Hell, California

In 1954, Charles Carr decided to be clever.  Either that, or he was a really quirky guy.  He founded Hell, California and he and his family were the tiny town’s only inhabitants.  They got bored with it, and the town was defunct and empty by the early 1960′s.  The California State Division of Highways started building US 60 and US 70, and eventually Hell’s service station, bar, and water tower were burned and torn down by the Division of Highways to make room for Interstate 10.  Depressing, huh?

Hell, Grand Cayman

On an island as heavenly as Grand Cayman, it is appropriate that a black, bleak, limestone field would be called “Hell.”  The residents of the town of West Bay – where Hell is located – have learned how to capitalize on that quirky half-soccer field full of ugly rocks.

Hell, Michigan

Hell, Michigan is the most well-covered town called Hell on the internet.   Meaning, there is more information out there about Hell, Michigan, than there is about any other hell besides the one that you go to if you are mean to puppies.  Michigan’s Hell is located in the Putnam Township close to Ann Arbor.  It’s an unincorporated community with an unofficial population of 266 people.  It also has an ice cream parlor (seen above) called Screams Ice Cream, a general store called Hell in a Handbasket, and a fictional college that offers “signed sealed and singed” degrees.

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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!