Top 10 Most Extraordinary Houses in the World

The Mushroom House, also known as the Pod House, is a modern architectural wonder located in Perinton, New York. Its unusual design has been featured in TV shows such as Offbeat America and books like Weird US. Inspired by the shape of a Queen Anne’s Ren belly button, its brown color resembles the appearance of mushrooms. Architect James H. Johnson designed this unique house for Robert and Marguerite Antell, a lawyer-artist couple, between 1970 and 1972. The house was later designated as a local landmark in 1989 and is covered with 9,000 handmade ceramic tiles.

The Mushroom House is situated in a moderately wooded ravine, next to Powder Mills Park. The structure is made up of four 80-ton pods, each resting on reinforced concrete pillars that range in height from 4.3 to 6 meters. The pods are connected to the shell with a base diameter of 1.5 meters. Each “mushroom cap” is equipped with full windows, and the house includes four distinct pods: one for living and dining, one for the kitchen, two for sleeping, and an additional “half-pod” that provides a deck area. The house has three bedrooms and three bathrooms across 387 square meters of space.

In 2001-2002, the house underwent renovations, which included underground glass mosaics and a fiber-optic “Time Tunnel” inspired by Antoni Gaudí. This unique addition led to the creation of a “cave-like” entertainment room, complete with a pool table, bar, mosaic fireplace, media center, and intricate wood sculptures crafted from mahogany.

Located in Abidjan, the former capital of Ivory Coast, this one-of-a-kind house is designed in the shape of a giant crocodile with a peculiar grin. The crocodile is completely hollowed out, providing living space within. Completed in 2008, the project was started by artist Moussa Calo, but tragically, his death halted the construction. His apprentice, Thierry Atta, took over and turned the structure into his permanent home.

This crocodile-shaped concrete house is not only livable but also serves as a local attraction. It is the first completed crocodile-shaped house in the world. The front features a large smiling mouth, while the body is hollowed out to create a bedroom, windows, and other well-organized spaces. The house is elevated on four legs, with the main body resting on a massive concrete lily pad. Brave visitors can even crawl underneath the crocodile for a unique experience.

The Keret House is both a structure and an installation art piece in Warsaw, Poland. Designed by architect Jakub Szczęsny through the Centrala architectural firm, it holds the title of the narrowest house in the world, measuring just 92cm at its thinnest and 152cm at its widest. The two-story installation is named after Israeli writer and filmmaker Etgar Keret, its first tenant. The house includes a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and a small living area. It features two non-opening windows, and natural light filters in through frosted glass walls. The entire interior is painted white, and the building's electricity is sourced from a neighboring building.

The Keret House has custom water and waste systems, as it is not connected to the city's water supply. Due to its compact size, it can only accommodate a small fridge with two drinks, and the inhabitants use a ladder to move between floors. The entrance is through a retractable staircase, which, when closed, becomes part of the living space. The construction of the Keret House was supported by the Warsaw City Hall and executed by the Polish Modern Art Foundation.

While the Keret House does not meet the building standards of Poland, it is still used as a residence. In 2019, it was recognized as one of the most iconic houses in the world and was featured in the list of international projects honored by the Iconic Houses architecture portal.

Built in 2008 at the coastal resort of Trassenheide on Usedom Island in Pomerania, The Upside-Down House in Trassenheide is located in Germany. Designed by Polish architects Klaudius Golos and Sebastian Miki Ciuk, the unusual structure was part of a project called Die Welt Steht Kopf ("The World Upside Down"). The aim was to offer visitors a fresh perspective on everyday things. At this house, the only thing that isn’t upside down is the external staircase that leads to the attic. Along the walls of the “ground floor” are a reversed bench, a wheelbarrow, and a bicycle.

Inside, the furniture, kitchen appliances, plant pots, and even paintings are all upside down, hanging above you when you stand on the ceiling. In the bathroom, it feels as though water might flow from an inverted toilet. Even the curtains are pinned to the walls in a way that makes it appear gravity has disappeared. Additionally, the entire Upside-Down House is built with a 6% tilt, giving the impression that the house is tumbling toward the ground. After its completion, the house earned the distinction of being the first upside-down house built in Germany. Its design was primarily intended for tourists, allowing them to experience a thrilling sense of disorientation.

The Toilet House in South Korea is an architectural marvel designed to resemble a giant toilet. Built in 2007 by Shim Jaedeok, who later became the president and founder of the World Toilet Association, the house serves as a tribute to proper sanitation and environmental hygiene. His mission was to promote better sanitation practices worldwide, emphasizing that poor sanitation contributes to global health crises that claim millions of lives annually.

Located in Suwon, about 25 miles south of Seoul, the Toilet House, also known as Haewoojae, which translates to "a place of peace where one can relieve their worries," is a two-story building featuring two bedrooms, two living rooms, and three luxurious bathrooms. Constructed from steel, white concrete, and glass, the house also boasts a distinctive bowl-shaped opening on its roof. It is recognized as the largest toilet sculpture in South Korea and houses two exhibition floors dedicated to educating visitors about the importance of sanitation for public health.

Inside the museum, visitors can view toilet-themed artworks, including a giant golden pile of feces, all of which make for striking photographs. After the death of its founder, the house was donated to the city and converted into a museum dedicated to the cause of sanitation.

The Flintstones House, designed by architect William Nicholson and built in 1976, stands as a unique experimental structure that explores new materials. Constructed using sprayed concrete over a steel framework and air-filled balloons, it features a dome-shaped design. With a living space of about 2,700 square feet, the house includes three bedrooms, a spiral staircase inspired by an ice cream cone, two bathrooms, and a two-car garage. The interior is rounded, with the main bathroom featuring a stone floor instead of tiles. Initially painted in light white, the house was repainted in vibrant orange in 2000, and one of the domes was later painted purple.

The house is popularly known as the "Flintstones House" after the animated television show from Hanna-Barbera Productions in the 1960s, which depicted a family living in the prehistoric era. It has also been referred to as the Dome House, Gumby House, Worm Cast House, Bubble House, and "Barbapapa House" after the character from the 1970s children’s book series. In the mid-1980s, the house began to deteriorate due to water runoff from the hillside, causing foundation damage and cracks in the walls. After failed attempts to seal the cracks, the house underwent a major restoration in 1987.

The monumental Nautilus House in Mexico City was designed by Javier Senosiain from Arquitectura Organica. This peculiar, snail-shaped structure beautifully blends artistic innovation with simplified living. Drawing inspiration from the works of Gaudi and Frank Lloyd Wright, Senosiain introduces a striking example of ‘biomorphic architecture’—an approach that creates harmony with nature by mimicking organic forms and drawing from history, local traditions, and cultural origins.

The house’s smooth exterior leads to a massive, colorful mosaic wall that illuminates the living space with a stunning rainbow effect. Rather than a traditional, dull rectangular house, residents now live inside a giant, shell-like structure. Nautilus House is not only earthquake-resistant but also requires little maintenance compared to regular homes. Its design features a unique technique known as 'steel-reinforced structure,' where a steel mesh is covered with concrete, allowing for flowing, natural curves that resemble the spirals and organic chambers of a living organism.

Hundreds of vibrant glass windows in all seven colors of the rainbow line the gaps in the ceiling and walls, while lush grass thrives under the bright sunlight, surrounding flower-shaped benches. Through its artistic freedom and meticulous attention to detail, Nautilus House stands out as an extraordinary piece of architecture.

Krzywy Domek, which translates to "The Crooked House," is a commercial building located in Sopot, Poland, famous for its unique architectural design. The building’s shape creates an optical illusion of curvature, making it an iconic tourist attraction. Krzywy Domek forms part of the Rezydent shopping center and was designed by Polish architects Szotynscy and Zaleski, who began working on the project in 2001. Construction started in January 2003 and was completed within a year. The building officially opened to the public in 2004. Krzywy Domek has won numerous awards and has earned a place as one of the seven wonders of the Tricity area, which includes the nearby cities of Gdańsk and Gdynia.

The architects drew inspiration from the fairy-tale illustrations of Polish artist Jan Marcin Szancer as well as the surrealist paintings of Swedish artist Per Dahlberg. The abstract architectural style of Krzywy Domek shares similarities with Prague's Dancing House and the Catalan modernism of Antoni Gaudí. The building’s unconventional design mimics the effect of a mirror, distorting the shape of a traditional building and giving it a curved, whimsical appearance. Covering an area of about 4,000 square meters, the interior of Krzywy Domek houses offices, cafés, a nightclub, and a wall of fame where Polish celebrities sign their names during their visits to the iconic structure.

Architects from Sou Fujimoto Architects designed this unique house in one of Tokyo's most vibrant districts, featuring transparent walls. On sunny days, the interior of the transparent house is flooded with natural light. Its spatial design is one-of-a-kind and highly modern. The 85m2 house is divided into several levels, interconnected by sleek, simple staircases. Inside, there's a contemporary kitchen, a cozy bedroom, and a fantastic entertainment space with panoramic windows. The dominant color throughout the house is white. The transparent house incorporates many positive features for vertical living spaces, focusing on aesthetics and elegance.

The architects used natural materials like wood, glass, and metal. Bookshelves and other furniture are made from birch wood, while the floors and stairs are crafted from natural wood. Whenever the owner seeks privacy or tranquility, they can use the rolling shutters that are paired with the large windows. The transparency of the outer walls isn’t the only remarkable feature of this house. The architects also integrated various types of plants into the design, drawing inspiration from Tokyo’s ancestors, who built their homes on trees at the dawn of civilization.

Once a prison, a school, and a funeral home, this building is now a striking gallery and visitor center in Delme. The Gue(ho)st House serves as a captivating exhibition space and a tourist hub. Architects Verdaguer and Pejus transformed the building by enveloping it in polystyrene blocks, giving it a plump, rounded shape. They then coated the entire structure in two layers of spray-applied polyurethane, creating a tough, waterproof skin. The natural yellow plastic was later painted white, resulting in a façade that drips eerily down and merges seamlessly with the ground below.

Reflecting the building’s former uses, the architects sought to create a 'ghostly' house. The name Gue(ho)st House is inspired by the French-American artist and sculptor Marcel Duchamp, who was known for his clever wordplay: "A Guest + A Host = A Ghost." The Gue(ho)st House is located within the grounds of the contemporary art center La Synagogue de Delme in the village of Delme, northeastern France. The house features a visitor center, studio, gallery, and event space. Delme is approximately 181 miles east of Paris, and a 30-minute drive from Nancy or Metz.