Far from just bricks and mortar, these homes are made from the most unusual construction materials from toy bricks to glass bottles, salt and even bread. Take a look at these properties made from the most bizarre and inventive components. Click or scroll for more…
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LEGO House, Surrey, UK
Built by former Top Gear presenter, James May in 2009, this full-sized LEGO house was created located in the middle of Denbies Wine Estate in Dorking, Surrey. The two-story property was built as a fully functioning house and has a working toilet, hot shower and a bed, all made using 3.3 million plastic bricks, donated by LEGO themselves.
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LEGO House, Surrey, UK
After James himself spent a night in the home, the property was meant to be picked up by LEGO and moved to their theme park in Windsor. However, they withdrew their offer after deeming the move too expensive and the home, which took 1,000 helpers and 3.3 million bricks to build, had to be demolished so that the vineyard could have the land back to harvest grapes.
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Cabin of 3D Printed Curiosities, California, USA
You’d never guess this tiny cabin in Oakland, California was built using 3D printing technology. Designed by Emerging Objects, the tiles on its exterior, the roof tiles and the interior lining are all created using a mix of ceramics and biodegradable materials such as pomace, sawdust, bioplastic and cement. The cabin is formed from over 4,500 tiles, each one designed to fit perfectly with the next, and cleverly bringing in practical and decorative elements to the fabric of the walls. Some of these exterior tiles are formed with a small hole to plant succulents in, creating a beautiful living facade.
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Cabin of 3D Printed Curiosities, California, USA
The sides of the house use a 3-D woven tile, based on the knitted seed stitch, and their overlapping configuration mean they function as an efficient rain screen. The interior has a simple yet elegant design and at night the cabin comes alive with backlit color-changing walls. The aim of the cabin was to create a 3D printed home that people want to live in as well as being sustainable by using waste in the design process.
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ING DiBa Ice House, Germany
In 2012, the German bank ING DiBa commissioned Krafthaus Studio to build Europe’s biggest ice house in six different locations over the country. Each spread over 1,000 square feet of space, the ice houses had everything that can be found in any normal home and each used 1,000 blocks of cloudy and clear solid ice.
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ING DiBa Ice House, Germany
Each single-story house weighed 86 tons and took 25 ice artists four weeks to build each property. With over 6,000 individual parts, the house really is extreme living and is packed with details from an ice bed to an ice sofa and this kitchen, which was carved with a washing machine, oven and even a sink complete with faucets.
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Collage House, Mumbai, India
The Collage House in Mumbai, India is inspired by the crumbling buildings found throughout the city. Designed by S+PS Architects, the unusual exterior is made from recycled material and trash from demolished buildings around the city, including old doors and shutters which wrap around two sides of the facade.
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Collage House, Mumbai, India
Several of the reclaimed windows, doors and shutters on the exterior retained their hinges, allowing them to be opened to provide views and ventilation. The home is centered around a courtyard and the architects chose to mix recycled materials such as 100-year-old salvaged stone columns and flooring made from beams of old houses with a modern concrete frame that wraps around the home.
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The Paper House, Massachusetts, USA
The Paper House, in Rockport, Massachusetts, was built in 1922 by Mr. Elis F Stenman, who managed to construct the building out of old newspapers. What started off as a hobby became an obsession; the walls ended up an inch thick and are made from pressed paper that has been layered with glue and varnish.
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The Paper House, Massachusetts, USA
Not only was the house built from paper, so was the furniture, which is fully functional and includes a clock, desk and chair. The only exception is the piano, which was simply covered in paper. In some places the varnish has worn away over the years, so the original newspaper clippings can be read.
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Salt building, Jujuy, Argentina
People have been building with salt for centuries and this building located in the unusual location of the Salinas Grande salt flats in Argentina is still standing strong. Around the salt flats, the locals build their houses and even some of their furniture out of salt blocks. At this house, a decorative llama has been carved out of the material to stand guard near the front door.
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Salt building, Jujuy, Argentina
The vast salt pan sits 3,500 kilometers above sea level and measures a huge 60km long at its longest point. The salt blocks are carved directly from the pan and show off the layers of salt that have built up over the centuries.
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Dancing Light House, Arizona, USA
This angular property was inspired by tectonic plates but is also hiding a secret in its walls. The dream home is made from dirt, though you’d never tell from its gorgeous exterior. It’s made by compacting layers of subsoil earth inside a frame, that’s removed once the material is hard and stable.
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Dancing Light House, Arizona, USA
Created by Kendle Design Collaborative, the home seamlessly blends into its rugged desert setting thanks to the use of natural materials. The golden wall shows all the layers of rammed earth creating a pattern that works beautifully in this modern setting, with sliding glass doors that provide panoramic views over the rolling desert landscape.
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Bottle House, Ganja, Azerbaijan
The Bottle House, a local icon in Ganja, Azerbaijan, is an entire house made from glass bottles. Built by local man, Ibrahim Jafaroc between 1996 and 1997, this incredible concept has been executed with extreme care and attention. The home is dedicated to Jafarov’s brother, who went missing in the Second World War, with one exterior wall dedicated to him featuring a portrait made from bottles and stones.
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Bottle House, Ganja, Azerbaijan
An estimated 48,000 glass bottles have been used to cover the two-story house. They are of all different shapes and sizes and have been arranged with stones to create patterns on the exterior of the house bringing stars, circles and words into the design.
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747 Wing House, Malibu, USA
The roof of this Malibu house is made from parts of a disused Boeing 747-200 aircraft. The tired mode of transport has been completely transformed, with parts of the airplane tail sheltering the master bedroom. The body of the plane covers a guesthouse, barn and artist’s studio that are each housed in separate buildings.
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747 Wing House, Malibu, USA
Outside, the cockpit of the plane creates a roof with a large skylight over the mediation pavilion. David Hertz Architects, who designed and built the home, had to register the house with the Federal Aviation Authority so that pilots wouldn’t mistake it for a crashed jet.
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Sandbag house, California, USA
Dubbed the Eco-Dome, this house was made by filling sandbags with moistened earth, which were then arranged in circular layers and finished off with plaster. This design was created by CalEarth, a not-for-profit organization that provides sustainable housing solutions for the displaced and homeless. The modular home can be built has a double-domed structure if needs be for additional bedrooms.
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Sandbag house, California, USA
Inside, you’d never know the dome is made from sandbags thanks to its smooth surface. It may only measure 400 square feet, but the home packs a punch when it comes to energy efficiency. A rocket mass heater and a ‘wind scoop’ passive cooling system ensure that the temperate is just right in the sustainable off-grid dwelling.
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Beer can house, Texas, USA
Built in the late 1960s, the Beer Can House is located in Houston, Texas. Designed by local resident John Milkovisch, the house is estimated to include over 50,000 beer cans and beer paraphernalia. Not only do the beer cans make the house a local attraction, but they also saved the family on their electricity bills as they help to insulate the interior.
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Beer can house, Texas, USA
The project started when Milkovisch decided to redo his yard because he was tired of mowing the lawn and started inlaying thousands of marbles, rocks and metal pieces into the concrete. Over the next 18 months, he began adding aluminum cut from beer cans to the exterior walls of the house and later decided to include green bottles in the design.
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Tiny Firehouse, various, USA
This may look like any other tiny home but this petite pad is actually made from the remanence of an abandoned fire truck. Created by John and Fin Kernohan as a tribute to retired and active firefighters, they found the fire truck in a scrapyard and decided to utilize it for a tiny house design. The couple are also behind the United Tiny House Association and the Tiny House Festivals, which showcase across southern America, with all the proceeds going to charitable causes
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Tiny Firehouse, various, USA
Using as much of the vehicle as they could for the build, the home’s exterior was formed from the truck’s original siding and there’s even a fireman’s pole inside made from reclaimed wood! The micro dwelling covers just 148 square feet and also makes use of old barn doors, which allows the unit to be fully opened up to the elements.
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Cork House, Berkshire, UK
With its striking design, this house has fully embraced the unusual in every aspect of its build. With a solid cork wall and roof, the home was shortlisted for one of the UK’s top architectural prizes in 2019, and we can see why! The building is made up of five pyramids and is supported by a timber frame, but has been made without cement, glue, plastic, or render.
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Cork House, Berkshire, UK
The house has been designed so it can be moved around and is easy to take apart and put back together by hand. Inside, the design is simplistic with cork walls as a feature and a wood burner taking center stage. This process could be the future of eco-building, thanks to its insulating, lightweight properties and use of natural materials. We think it’s genius!
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Cabana Floripa, Florianopolis, Brazil
Perched atop a hill on the island of Florianopolis, Brazil, is this colorful home made entirely from scrap. It was built by a Uruguayan artist using parts from demolished houses including old wood, glass bottles, ceramic tiles, broken mirrors and other trash that he found lying around.
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Cabana Floripa, Florianopolis, Brazil
The home has a double and single bedroom on the lower level and an extra double bed up in the loft. It’s equipped with air conditioning, internet access, a kitchen and a bathroom. It’s available to rent on Airbnb and is the perfect example of how one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
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Food house, Manchester, UK
In November 2018, food delivery company, Deliveroo built an edible house as a publicity stunt to get their fledgling company’s name out there. A team of six people spent 25 days cooking and building the impressive home, using some of the UK’s favorite foods. The bottom layer of ‘bricks’ on the exterior are actually pies!
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Food house, Manchester, UK
The final design used up 960 homemade pies, 1,750 slices of bread, 269 square feet of mashed potato and four liters of gravy. Inside, the fireplace was made from curry, while outside there was a Yorkshire pudding yard and mashed potato stucco, as well as a cute cauliflower rosette above the front door porch (made from fish fingers).
