Unusual Life

You can build incredible homes with ferro cement. It is extremely strong and durable and the thing we love most is that you can build the whole building – walls, roof, gutters, cabinets, etc. – out of the same material.

You build a cement home by first building the frame, which is made of metal. You wire rebar, remesh and lathing tightly together. You can make the design as fanciful as you wish.

Stage two of the process is stucco, covering the frame with concrete. Stucco goes on in layers. The first is called a scratch coat, for which the concrete should be a little drier than the subsequent coats. It’s called a scratch coat, because you have to scratch it up before the mud sets. This gives the second coat something extra to grip to.

The finishing coats are called brown coats. The stucco needs to be almost runny. It goes on a lot faster than the scratch, and can even be applied with a hopper gun.

Want to build your own ferro cement home? Start here at FerroCement.com

Unusual accommodations in Austria lacking the customary European charm. But extra points for creativity…

Sewer Pipe Dream Hotel: Pay-As-You-Wish, from sellsius°

Inman Blog has a cute post about “Doggie Mansions,” a Palm Beach, Florida company that also offers “Kiddie Mansions” which are priced from $10,500 to $100,000.

In an announcement, the company states that real estate agents and brokers “can now earn an unprecedented 10 percent commission on every home they sell, without co-broking or splitting commissions with their agencies.”

I’ve noted several companies who specialize in upscale pooch housing, and am a big fan of Barkitecture, a book about dog houses by Seattle author Fred Albert (and editor of Seattle Homes & Lifestyles Magazine.)

Barkitecture

Arthur Wood, 75, and his wife Cynthia, 69, have lived in the Brooklyn building known as the Broken Angel for 27 years. When they bought it, it was a broken-down building, and they’ve spent the last 27 years converting it into a home and art installation. They’re our favorite kind of eccentrics who have created an environment mirroring their inner selves.

After buying and moving in to the building, formerly the headquarters of the Brooklyn Trolley, in 1979, Arthur Wood and his wife gradually transformed it into a quirky piece of sculpture in and of itself, with an elaborate structure on top, partly exposed sides and intricate masonry.

The home has had its moments of fame. It was the backdrop for Dave Chappelle’s recent concert film, “Block Party,” and in 1991 a short documentary about Mr. Wood’s rooftop sculpture was shown at the Sundance Film Festival.

Now, there’s been a fire and the building department went in and found a “50-foot vertical extension” and a “15-foot vertical extension” at the top of the building. A spokesman from the department said, “That means no permits, that means no plans; that is illegal.”

Now, the owners and their son have made appeals to architects and engineers to come and help and save their fabulous creation.

Photos from “Broken Angel photo set” by Benjamin Kilgust on flickr.

Wood’s son set of photos on Flickr, plus details of their plight.
An appeal from the owners of Broken Angel from The Brownstoner

Angel owner won’t quit, from the NY Daily News

Brooklyn Art House rules hazardous, from the NY Times

Broken Angel Flickr sets

Via The Open House Blog on the Tacoma News Tribune site, this cute purple artist-owned home was for sale for $349K in the Proctor neighborhood.

I love people who personalize their homes. And what a cute result!

I found this on Ira Serkes site BerkeleyHomes.com and it was labeled “Fish House”, but I think I read somewhere that it’s actualy known as the “Tartigrade House”, but the only reference I found to it was on a blog that’s been abandoned. Any info out there?