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’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.

What happens when you combine an architect, activism, and a latrine?

Don’t be alarmed. Your eyes aren’t deceiving you; that is a toilet-shaped house and it’s real.

Sim Jae-Duck, an architect from Seoul, Korea, is the mastermind behind this what some might call a masterpiece and others might call a master piece of s*** (pun intended). Surprisingly, the inspiration and meaning behind this $1.6 million home is a lot deeper than you might think. Sim has felt a deep connection to toilets as long as he can remember and even before that; his mother intentionally gave birth to him in a bathroom due to a family belief that bathroom births led to long and healthy lives.

Already in his 70s and still going strong, Sim took on the toilet house project with an activist purpose in mind. Sim, who is chairman of the organizing committee of the Inaugural General Assembly of the World Toilet Association, has been campaigning for clean and beautiful toilets since 1995 when he was major of Suweon Korea, when he spearheaded efforts to spruce up the country’s facilities before hosting the 1998 Summer Olympic games and 2002 World Cup. He says that 2.6 billion people live without toilets today – a problem he is trying to remedy, in part, with the toilet house.

The house was unveiled in 2007 as part of the annual World Toilet Association meeting. The “Toilet House,” as it is affectionately called, is the world’s only latrine-shaped building. Sim chose to build the house 30 miles south of Seoul in Sim’s hometown of Suwon after tearing down his former home.

Featuring two bedrooms, two guestrooms, and four deluxe toilets, including one in the center of the house with clear walls that fog up and play classical music when occupied, the house can be rented out for $50,000 per night. Visitors have to pay $1 for a glimpse of the “porcelain” wonder. All proceeds from the house go toward improving subpar bathroom sanitation in impoverished nations.

“The toilet revolution should start with talking about toilet issues freely,” said Song Young-kwon, head of the organizing committee at the time of the house’s unveiling.

The building has been aptly named Haewoojae, which translates to “a place of sanctuary where one can solve one’s worries.” Its steel, white concrete and glass construction emulates the feel and industrious nature of its real-life counterpart. At 24.5 feet tall, the second story of the toilet bowl opens onto the roof with a garden and includes a water collection system to conserve drinking water.

Guest Post by Dana Bashor

Dana Bashor is a multi-faceted talent. Dana Bashor is known for many things but most of all she is an actress, model, and singer. Dana has been working in the industry as a model and Actress for 5 years. She is currently running her own business as well as freelance writing on topics such as consumer awareness and astronomy. Dana currently helps contribute to topics such as planet antares for Wikipedia and other websites.