5 Weirdest Home News Stories

Ever read a headline and find yourself checking the front page of your newspaper to make sure you didn't accidentally pick up The Onion? From freak accidents to manmade muck-ups, sometimes the strangest stories are the ones we read in good old black and white. We proudly offer you a compilation of exactly those types of stories—the home improvement edition. Enjoy—and take heed. See all our weird home news stories on thisoldhouse.com!

• 1. Smokin' Snuggies

  

  There are some things that should never be cooked in the microwave. Such things include your PJs. Australian newspaper The Herald Sun reported that an elderly woman's Queensland home went up in flames after she nuked her pajamas, perhaps in an effort to dry them after a spill or warm them before bedtime. The woman was unharmed in the fire, but it took firefighters 40 minutes to control the blaze. Read all about microwave safety and cooking at usda.gov. And check out our Fire Safety tips, too.  More: Wackiest Kitchen Products V

• 2. Dude, Where's My House?

  

  There are a few precautions you can take to prevent home break-ins. But what to do when you come home to find your entire house missing? That's just what happened to the owner of a double-wide, prefabricated mobile home in Ontario, Canada. Police discovered the stolen building, valued at about CAN$30,000, a short distance from where it was taken. The perpetrator was charged with theft and mischief, but not before he presented police with forged ownership documents.  More: Secrets of Great Curb Appeal

• 3. Real Estate Market May Actually Be Dead

  

  Anne Diamond never believed in haunted houses. That is, until a ghost tried to sell her a home with a view of Warwick Castle in England. Diamond fell in love with the large, detached Victorian after the elderly owner let her in for a tour. But when she called the broker that same day to make an offer, she learned that the owner had died weeks before. "They found her lying on the living room floor; she'd been dead for two weeks," a passing postman explained to the would-be homebuyer. In the end, Diamond passed on her dream house. More: DIY Project That Add Old House Charm

• 4. Lord Tells Man to Build Super-Fun Tree House

  

  Sometimes the calling to build is just too, well, divine. Self-taught carpenter and landscape architect Horace Burgess started his 100-foot-tall, ten story structure in Crossville, Tennessee, after "receiving a revelation from God." Now, the Guinness Book of World Records wants to name it the largest tree house in the world. To confirm the title, Burgess must measure every inch of the structure and vows to keep adding to the building if his title is ever threatened. More: The World's Wildest Houses

• 5. Baboon Caught Chillin on Jersey Porch

  

  They say porch living is coming back into vogue. A runaway baboon, likely from Six Flags Great Adventure's Monkey Jungle Safari in New Jersey, was found in Howell Township on July 2, 2011. After a whirlwind tour of a local golf course and Interstate 95, the wayward primate was captured while relaxing hanging out on someone's back porch. Six Flags park officials report that the animal made it back to the "jungle" unharmed and in good health.   Get all our bizarre home news stories at thisoldhouse.com!