The most unusual homes in the world include a 21-floor-plate glass house in Tokyo, a 92 cm-wide house in Warsaw and a bubble-shaped palace on the French Riviera. This list of 7 has been rebuilt for 2026, keeping the ones that still stand and swapping out the ones we could not confirm.
People build houses from boulders, beer cans, and concrete boxes for all kinds of reasons: tight plots, strong opinions, or just because. These are the seven we would pick.
7 unusual homes: summary
| # | Home | Where | What makes it odd |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | House NA | Tokyo, Japan | Glass walls and 21 floor plates at different heights |
| 2 | Keret House | Warsaw, Poland | 92 to 152 cm wide |
| 3 | Palais Bulles | Théoule-sur-Mer, France | No straight lines, 29 rooms |
| 4 | Flintstone House | Hillsborough, California | Sprayed-concrete domes |
| 5 | Casa do Penedo | Northern Portugal | Built between four boulders |
| 6 | Habitat 67 | Montreal, Canada | 354 stacked concrete modules |
| 7 | Beer Can House | Houston, Texas | Over 50,000 beer cans |
The 7 most unusual homes in the world
1. House NA, Tokyo, Japan
Are you sure you have nothing to hide? You would need to be, in this one. Sou Fujimoto Architects built it in 2011 for a young couple, a 914-square-foot house made almost entirely of glass with a white steel frame. Inside there are 21 separate floor plates at different heights, so living there is a bit like living in a tree.
2. Keret House, Warsaw, Poland
Designer Jakub Szcz?sny wedged it between two buildings. At 92 cm at its thinnest and 152 cm at its widest, it is described as the narrowest house in the world. It has two floors, a bedroom, a kitchen and a bathroom, and you reach it by retractable stairs that become the living area when closed. Because it does not meet Polish building codes, it is officially an art installation. The first tenant was the writer and filmmaker Etgar Keret, which gave the house its name.
3. Palais Bulles, Théoule-sur-Mer, France
Architect Antti Lovag hated straight lines and called them an aggression against nature. The 1,200 m2 palace was built between 1975 and 1989 for industrialist Pierre Bernard and later bought by fashion designer Pierre Cardin. It has 29 rooms, ten bedrooms each decorated by a different artist, and a 500-seat open-air amphitheatre. It was listed for sale in March 2017 at €350 million and did not find a buyer. It could be rented to groups for $33,200 a day.
4. Flintstone House, Hillsborough, California
Wilma, I’m home. Designed by architect William Nicholson and built in 1976, it was made by spraying shotcrete over steel mesh wrapped around inflated balloons. It has three bedrooms and about 2,700 sq ft of living space. Some neighbours have opinions about it. It sold in June 2017 for $2.8 million after being listed at $4.2 million in 2015, and the new owners added steel sculptures of dinosaurs, a mammoth and Fred Flintstone to the yard.
5. Casa do Penedo, northern Portugal
Built from four large boulders that serve as foundation, walls and roof, the “House of the Rock” took about two years, from 1972 to 1974. It was built as a holiday home and has no electricity supply, although a wind farm stands nearby. It is now a small museum of relics and photographs, and a growing tourist attraction.
6. Habitat 67, Montreal, Canada
Moshe Safdie built it for Expo 67 from 354 identical prefabricated concrete forms, arranged into three pyramids up to 12 storeys high. Together they make 146 homes of different sizes. Safdie hoped it would be affordable housing, and that part largely failed, but it has since become a very successful co-op.
7. Beer Can House, Houston, Texas
Upholsterer John Milkovisch started covering his house in 1968 after he poured cement over his yards. When asked why, he said: “I got sick of mowing the grass.” It uses more than 50,000 flattened beer cans and was worked on until the late 1980s. A non-profit now owns and operates it as visionary art.
What happened to the original seven?
The 2013 list also had a skateboard house in Malibu, a converted church, a water tower in Belgium and the Flintstone house under another owner. We could not confirm the first three as they were described, so they left the list. Keret House, House NA, the Bubble Palace and the Flintstone House stay. Another famous unusual home, Tokyo’s Nakagin Capsule Tower, was demolished in 2022, though 23 of its capsules were kept.
Keep reading
- How a house became an investment product: the money side of buying a home
FAQ
What is the narrowest house in the world?
Keret House in Warsaw, Poland, which measures 92 cm at its thinnest point and 152 cm at its widest.
What is the Bubble Palace?
Palais Bulles is a 1,200 m2 villa in Théoule-sur-Mer near Cannes, designed by Antti Lovag with no straight lines. Pierre Cardin later bought it.
Who built House NA in Tokyo?
Sou Fujimoto Architects built the glass house in 2011. It has 21 floor plates at different heights.
Where is the Flintstone House?
In Hillsborough, California, overlooking Interstate 280. It was built in 1976.
Can you visit Casa do Penedo?
Casa do Penedo in northern Portugal is a small museum and a growing tourist attraction, but it has no electricity supply.
Last updated: October 2026.
