unusual buildings

america has its share of strange buildings. here are some.

this is the binocular building. it is located in on main street in venice, ca and is home to the chiat/day/mojo advertising agency.
it was built in 1991.

something alien has made its home on signal mountain in tennessee.
truckers and travelers encounter the out of this world sight as they wind their way up u.s. 27.
a large saucer structure, propped up on four legs and standing a story off the ground, offers all the conveniences of modern living to its starry eyed owners.

you scream, i scream, we all scream for ice cream!
anyone wanting an ice cream cone in perry, mi shouldn’t have a bit of trouble finding this building.

margate city, nj (close to atlantic city) is home to lucy the elephant.
lucy is the world’s largest elephant and the only one to be designated a national historic landmark.
james v. lafferty built lucy in 1881. she stands 6 stories high and weighs 90 tons!
she served as a hotel and then a tavern.
today visitors can tour lucy’s innards and visit her gift shop.

we all know north carolina is famous for the manufacturing of fine furniture.
this building is located in high point, nc and was built in the 1920’s.
it now serves as offices for the high point jaycees.
by the way, the sock hanging out of the drawer is six feet long.

anyone for a picnic?
this huge basket building in licking county, oh, is home to the offices of longaberger Basket company.

suffolk county, ny, is home to the duck house.
it was built in 1931 by duck farmer martin mauer and his wife, jeuel in hopes of promoting the sale of their peking ducks.
the duck farm is long gone and land developers wanted to build homes on the site.

so the duck house was moved to suffolk county.

frank redford built his wigwam gas station/restaurant and the wigwam village motel in the 1930’s in horse cave, ky.
he later built five more wigwam villages across the country but the one in horse cave is the only one remaining.

shoe magnate mahlon haines built the Shoe House in hallam, PA in 1948.
he lent it free of charge to honeymooners.
the current owners now conduct tours of its three surprisingly lovely bedrooms, and operate a home-made-ice-cream parlor.

originally intended to lure visitors to a proposed housing development called neptune gardens, this replica of the santa maria has been “docked” in its current location since 1928.
it has served as office space, an apartment and a gift shop.
for the past two decades, it has been a book and curio shop.

people driving by often do a double take when they spot wonderworks.
this three-story tall, classically-designed building appears to have landed, upside down, atop a 1930s era brick warehouse. inside await a myriad of fun things to do for the entire family.
next time you’re in orlando, fl, stop by. i promise you won’t have to stand on your head to enjoy it.

Tags: buildings, unusual