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Terribly Beautiful: Seven of the Strangest Residential Buildings in Europe

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Photo: House with Chimeras. Source: chimeras-house.com.ua.
Photo: House with Chimeras. Source: chimeras-house.com.ua.

Autumn is the best time of year to enjoy the charm of interesting and hidden places. There's plenty to discover in Europe, if you don't mind going off the beaten tourist track. Find autumn inspiration in unexpected works of European architectural art.

The strangest sights, the most unexpected shapes and solutions, incredible buildings... Discover the Facteur Cheval Palace in France, the House with Chimeras in Ukraine, the Cubic Houses in the Netherlands and the Forest Spiral in Germany - the strangest residential buildings in Europe.

Facteur Cheval Palace - Hauterives, France



Ferdinand Cheval, also known as Facteur Cheval, was a French postman who spent 33 years building Le Palais Ideal in Auteuil, in the south-east of France. It is considered to be an extraordinary example of Naïve Art architecture. In April 1879, when Cheval was going around the city as a village postman, he came across a strange-looking stone and took it home. This stone stirred up his long-held dream of creating a fantastic palace. And at the age of 43, he was inspired to start building it without any education. Every day he collected stones while delivering mail. When he started collecting more stones than his pockets could hold, he carried a basket and then a wheelbarrow. He considered his palace complete at the age of seventy-six. In 1969, Le Palais Idéal was classified as a historical monument.

Cube houses - Rotterdam, the Netherlands



Cubehouse, or house on a pole or tree house, is a project by Dutch architect Piet Blom. He saw this design as an abstract tree. So, Blom's idea was to create a kind of village in the city, a safe oasis where several functions could be performed: small businesses, shops, a school, and a playground. This idea is characterised by a strong interaction between the private - upstairs - and the public - downstairs. In fact, the complex is a pedestrian bridge that crosses a transport route.

House with Chimeras - Kyiv, Ukraine



According to an urban legend, an unusual building appeared in Kyiv in 1901 as a result of a bet between the prominent architect Vladyslav Horodetskyi and his colleague. The house was made 123 years ago from cement, a rather expensive material at the time, by Horodetskyi’s constant partner, the Milanese sculptor Elia Sala. Here, concrete heads are embedded in the wall of the building: elephants, rhinos, antelopes, and a crocodile. Lizards are hiding on the columns. Elephant heads rule the gutters. On the roof are giant frogs, sea monsters and nereids. Instead of hair on their heads, they carry chains, fantastic leaves and flowers. On the corner of the building is a giant python.

Waldspirale - Darmstadt, Germany



Waldspirale is a residential complex in Darmstadt, Germany, built in the 1990s. The name translates into English as a forest spiral, which reflects both the general plan of the building and the fact that it has a green roof. The building was designed by Austrian artist and architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who believed that ‘a straight line leads to the downfall of our civilisation’. The project was planned and implemented by architect Heinz Springmann and built by Bauverein Darmstadt. The building was completed in 2000.

Le Palais Bulles - Cannes, France



The architect of the Bubble Palace seemed to want to return to his roots, to the habitats of his ancestors, caves, and troglodytes. He created a place where art and expression of beauty, flexibility, balance and harmony give free rein to the imagination: everything from floor to ceiling, from outside to inside has spherical shapes. Villa Théoule-sur-Mer covers an area of 1200 sqm and includes 10 bedrooms, gardens, a swimming pool and an open auditorium with spectacular views of the Bay of Cannes. After Pierre Bernard's death, the palace was acquired by the famous designer Pierre Cardin. This house has hosted many parties after the Cannes Film Festival. The cost of Le Palais Bulles is estimated at $335 million, making it one of the most expensive houses in the world.

Dunmore Pineapple - Airth, Scotland



The Dunmore Pineapple is considered to be ‘the most bizarre building in Scotland’ and stands in Dunmore Park, near Airth in Stirlingshire, Scotland. Once discovered by Christopher Columbus on the island of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean in 1493, the pineapple became a rare delicacy in Europe. It was associated with power, wealth and hospitality. Architects, builders and craftsmen therefore adopted the pineapple as a motif, sculpting it on gate posts, railings, weather vanes and door lintels. It also featured prominently in the interior, fabrics and furniture. The entire Dunmore Pineapple building represents perhaps the most massive architectural use of this motif.

Royal Pavilion - Brighton, UK



Visit the extravagant and unusual entertainment palace built for the Prince Regent, later King George IV, between 1787 and 1823. The Royal Pavilion is distinguished by its exotic oriental look both inside and out. This bizarre royal entertainment palace was revered by Regency fashionable society. It is still a distinctive landmark in bustling Brighton and Hove today. The Royal Pavilion is also home to some of the finest collections and examples of Chinoiserie in the UK.



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