The most beautiful houses around the world
We all dream of having a cool crib we can call home. If you’re looking for creative, edgy or avant garde ideas for your future homes, look no further. Be it a humble abode or a luxurious mansion you have in mind, it can still be the raddest house in town.
Here is a list of some of the coolest houses around the world that we have put together.
If you think you’ve seen all there is to this world, you ain’t seen nothing yet. They say “home is where the heart is”, and trust me when I say that one of these places is bound to capture your heart.
1. Three Storey Treehouse (British Columbia, Canada)
Source: imgur.com
Why build a one-storey treehouse, when you can have three? Standing at 47 feet high in The Enchanted Forest, this treehouse is probably the highest in Canada. Surrounded by a forest of luscious green canopy and toadstools accompanied by sunlight filtering in from the top, it’s difficult not to feel as if you’ve stepped into a magical wonderland.
2. Free Spirit Houses (British Columbia, Cananda)
Source: freespiritspheres
Just as it’s name suggests, free spirit houses exist for those of us with an untamed soul raging inside. Pieces of handcrafted wooden spheres held firm by a web of thick ropes, they resemble nuts or fruits hanging from the trees.
To enter one of them, you have climb a spiral staircase or cross the suspension bridge that’s attached. However, as cool as it is, I wouldn’t want to live in one of them. Can you imagine the sphere swaying and rocking as the wind blows, or with every step you take? Scary.
3. Stone House (Portugal)
Source: Feliciano Guimaraes
Don’t be fooled by it’s appearance – although it simply looks like a humongous rock, this stone house does have doors, windows, a chimney and a shingled roof. A product of two giant stones linked by a concrete mix, it is rumored to be inspired by the American Flintstones cartoon and attracts hordes of tourists each year. I’ve always wanted to live in a house made of natural elements!
4. Dick Clark’s Flintstones Inspired Home (Malibu, California)
Images Source: realtor.com
Another Flintstones inspiration, this gorgeous and one-of-a-kind structure is selling for US$3.5 million. The place offers views of city lights and sunsets as well as Serrano Valley, the Boney Mountains and the Channel Islands. Here comes the catch: it also overlooks the beautiful Pacific Ocean. Whoever’s got the money to buy this place is going to be in for a real treat.
5. Skateboard House (Malibu, California)
Images Source: Francois Perrin and Gil Le Bon Delapointe
This Skateboard house is designed in such a way that all surfaces can be skated on, both indoors and outdoors. In fact, even the furniture are skateable! The sitting area, the kitchen and the bathroom are integrated in the curve, while standing objects like the kitchen island and the bed are simultaneously props for grinding, kick-flips, and ollies…
This will definitely be the raddest house in Malibu.
6. Giant Seashell House (Mexico)
Source: Javier Senosiain
What do you think of this amazing seashell house? Named ‘The Nautilus’, this house is made up of smooth surfaces, spiral stairs and natural plantings to simulate the feeling of living inside a snail. It is inspired by the work of Gaudi and Frank Lloyd Wright, and was built in 2006 for a family who wanted to live in an unconventional house.
7. Slide House (Tokyo, Japan)
Images Source: Shinichi Tanaka
This slide house is a dream come true for any kid. The whole apartment is connected by staircases and a corridor on one side, and a slide that wraps around the other side. Together, they form a circular route around the main area of the house. This house defines fun to a whole new level – anyone consider designing your crib like this, already?
8. Upside-Down House (Syzmbark, Poland)
Source: freshome
At first glance, this house seems absolutely ridiculous – serving no other purpose but to make a bold statement. However, there is a profound message that the Polish philanthropist and designer, Daniel Czapiewski was trying to send when he conceptualised this house. This bizarre construction was built as a social commentary on Poland’s former Communist era and the state of the world.
This masterpiece is definitely worth a visit, be it for interest or for historical purpose.
9. Steel House (Lubbock County, West Texas)
Images Source: Robert Bruno
Known locally as the “Metal Mansion”, the Steel House is the product of Robert Bruno’s work of more than three decades. Robert undertook the construction of the house all alone – no builders or architects, no nobody. This magnificent form – part 1950s Chevy, part airplane, part sci-fi spaceship – is the fruit of his dedication, commitment and passion for his work.
10. Mirror TreeHouse (Sweden)
Source: Peter Lundstrom
This “invisible” little cube isn’t an apartment, but a room that is part of the Swedish Hotel, Treehotel. While it seems impressive, the inception of this mirror cube has created a problem. Nestled within the trees and camouflaged by the reflections of the forest, it is unnoticeable to the birds who unknowingly fly into it.
11. Fairy Tale House (Wales, Great Britain)
These scenes look like they just came directly out of The Hobbit. I’m telling you, these are real. This breathtaking den took simply four months to build, with a chainsaw, shovel, chisel and hammer, from materials such as wood, stone and straw. I’m not lying. Most materials were scavenged.
This beautiful and cozy home was built by a man named Simon Dale for his family, in a bid to follow his dream and to build an ecological home. The house is heated with a wood fireplace and has a solar panel for power. And how much did it cost to build this amazing place? About US$4700.
We can all start dreaming now.
12. River House (Serbia)
Source: National Geographic
Do not judge this house by its appearance – it may look vulnerable and dilapidated, but this tiny and humble abode has weathered multiple floods and extreme winds. This home was built in 1969 by a group of young boys who had stumbled across this rock and found it an ideal place for a tiny shelter. Well, this certainly teaches us that tiny houses can be remarkably strong.
13. Wall Climber’s House (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Source: Reuters
Okay, you got me. It’s not called the wall climber’s house, I made that up. You may not think of it as a house, but it’s home to the Brazilian artists Tiago Primo (top) and his brother Gabriel. As weird as it seems, it sure is a neat idea to build a vertical “house” on a climbing wall. They even have shelves, counters, a hammock and a bed. Of course, they couldn’t install a bathroom, so they used the one inside the art gallery next door.
I’m really curious about something though. What happens if it rains?
14. Treehouses on the Nine Ladies (Derbyshire, England)
These impressive treehouses were no ordinary treehouses; they served a great purpose. Located on the Nine Ladies site, they were occupied by protesters for more than four years in a bid to prevent the land from being quarried for gritstone. They were ultimately successful.
15. The Tiny Tack House (Snohomish, Washington)
Images Source: The Tacks
Why have a permanent home, when you can travel with your house? A total of 140 square feet, couple Chris and Malissa Tack designed and built their home on a trailer bed all by themselves. It is probably as tiny as it can get, but it’s enough space for them. Like they say, “Tiny… It’s kind of a Big Deal.”
Take a tour of their tiny abode here. Watch the video, it’s really cool.
16. Shipping Container Homes
We all know that the modern shipping container is used to store and transport toys from China, cloth from India, cars from Germany and grain from America. In go chocolate, wine and cheese. In go electronics and technological equipment.
Source: Reuters
But… can you imagine people living in them instead?
Source: Ottawa Citizen
This charming snow fort in Quebec took seven containers to build. The blue three-bedroom home in the first picture above was made from four shipping containers in Sydney. And… it can be pulled apart and transported if need be.
Source: homedit
Want some flowers? You can get a garden.
17. The Keret House (Warsaw, Poland)
Images Source: Polish Modern Art Foundation / Bartek Warzecha
What you’re looking at right now is the world’s narrowest house, built between two existing structures from two historical epochs. It’s windowless, and the widest point measures at only 122 centimetres! It is claimed that it isn’t as claustrophobic as it seems because of it’s naturally lit interior, but I’m getting the jitters just looking at it. I can’t even breathe from looking at it’s pictures.
This skinny abode is now serving as a temporary home for travelling writers.
18. Extreme Transformer Home (HongKong)
Source: Reuters
This is space maximisation at it’s finest. Architect Gary Chang has created a 32 square metres metamorphic apartment that sports walls that move to create 24 individualised rooms. Among them we have a kitchen, a guest bedroom, dining room, a library and amazingly, a full spa.
Watch the apartment in action here.
19. The ‘Robo-Hobbit’ House (Prague, Czech Republic)
Can’t pick an apartment with the best view? This rotating house gives you the best of all worlds, the whole 360 degrees. This house was built by 73-year-old builder Bohumil Lhota, and was finished in 2002 since its conception in 1981. The house can also be raised like a periscope with a switch or manually by pushing it around its central axis.
20. Makeshift Home (China)
Source: Mirror News
Inventive Liu Lingchao made a makeshift dwelling and carried his 60kg home on his back wherever he went. Termed as ‘The Snail Man’, he hit the road in Shenzhen, China and walked for about 5 years to his hometown in Rong’an Guangxi. I truly take my hat off to him.
21. Floating Castle (Ukraine)
Source: Microscopiq.com
The Floating House truly redefines “living on the edge”. Against all odds, this farmhouse is supported only by a single cantilever. Till today, it’s still puzzling as to why it is able to defy gravity. Mysterious indeed…
They can be yours… If you want.
We’ve now reached the end of our tour of the coolest houses around the globe. They seem almost too cool to be true, but they are real. And if you work your brains and get the plans rolling, then you may one day have your very own dream house too!
There are so many cool homes around that it was really difficult to pick these out of all of them. Which were your favourites?