10 Awesome Houses You Want To Live In

Hey house, you do you. Make your house stand out from the crowd with a dash of inspiration from realestate.com.au’s blog.

1. The Round House

Peter Halasz (CC BY-SA http://2.0) / Via Flickr: pengo-au

Tony Clarke became interested in dome houses for their ability to withstand natural disasters. So he built this house in the town of Ballan, north of Melbourne, which is often subject to high winds and, occasionally, tornadoes. Way to be prepared, Tony.

2. Casa do Penedo

Feliciano Guimarães (CC BY http://2.0) / Via Flickr: jsome1

This house, in the Fafe mountains of Portugal, was constructed from four different boulders. Real talk: It doesn't have electricity, so the owners light it with candles at night...but that's a small price to pay for having a swimming pool carved right into the stone. Amazing.

3. The Everingham Rotating House

Quentin Jones / Getty Images

Don't you just hate it when you're at home in the early morning or late afternoon and the sun's directly in your eyes? What's the best way to deal with that predicament? Make the whole house rotate, of course! This house, four hours north of Sydney, has mountains on one side of it, and rapids on the other. If you're too lazy to walk across the room to change views, just rotate it.

4. Neverwas Haul

David Berry (CC BY http://2.0) / Via Flickr: dberry

Every other mobile home in the world can go home, because they're not trying hard enough. Neverwas Haul is a self-propelled, three-storey Victorian home. It is 75% recycled and 100% awesome. We'd list a location for it, but honestly, it goes wherever it wants.

5. Underground Houses of Coober Pedy

Tam (CC BY-SA http://2.0) / Via Flickr: offchurch-tam

Few people would think of abandoned opal mines as home sweet home, but a brave few turned those tunnels into houses. Visit the South Australian town of Coober Pedy, and you'll see not only the underground homes, but a few underground churches as well.

6. Mirrorcube

Barcroft Media / Getty Images

For when you really want to get away from it all, the Mirrorcube in Harads, Sweden offers the chance to be almost invisible as you get a good night's rest.

7. Nitt Witt Ridge

Joseph Francis (CC BY http://2.0) / Via Flickr: digitalartform

This house may not look like it, but it's built from literal garbage. Arthur Harold Beal used his job as a garbage collector to find the materials that would ultimately make up this house in Cambria, California. The house is made from things like beer cans, car parts, and washer drums.

8. The Futuro House in Canberra

The Shopping Sherpa (CC BY-ND http://2.0) / Via Flickr: 49333775@N00

In 1968, a Finnish architect named Matti Suuronen designed a prefabricated house that looks an awful lot like a UFO. Fewer than 100 of the houses were ever made, and the existing ones — dubbed Futuro houses — have been spread across the globe. This particular one landed at the University of Canberra.

9. The House on the Rock

Richie Diesterheft (CC BY http://2.0) / Via Flickr: puroticorico

Supposedly, this giant, sprawling, incredibly bizarre Wisconsin house was built out of spite by Alex Jordan Jr. after Frank Lloyd Wright told him "I wouldn’t hire you to design a cheese crate or a chicken coop." This story is probably not true, but it's as good a reason as any to explain why the house has the world's largest indoor carousel, a 60-metre-long model of a squid and whale fighting, and a room of 3,000 windows hanging off the side of a mountain.

10. The Cliff House

Modscape / Rex / REX USA

Full disclosure: The Cliff House, located somewhere on the Australian coast, doesn’t exist yet. It’s currently being designed and built. However, when it’s done, this house suspended from a cliffside will provide breathtaking views for its owners, who clearly are not afraid of heights.

Every home's unique. Get the low-down on making the most of yours with realestate.com.au’s blog.