Strange & Creative Buildings Architecture Series - Part 1

You might think this is an artist's rendered image but it's not.  This is a real 

Stone House home located in Guimarães, Portugal.  Isn't it fantastic?

Here's the entrance.

This is the Crooked House in Sopot, Poland.  It's a tourist attraction that has
 restaurants, shops and bars in it.  The architect, Szotynscy Zaleski drew
inspiration from children's illustrations by Jan Szancer.  The Crooked House
has become the most photographed building in the country.

Isn't that trippy?  It's like a real version of the buildings in Toon Town Disneyland.

I got confused when I was trying to figure out where this library is.  This library

is in Kansas City, Missouri.  I was thinking Kansas the state, but nooo...The
shelf on the building showcases 22 titles as voted on by Kansas City readers
and then selected by the Kansas City Public Library Board of Trustees. 
Pretty cool isn't it?

Very cool indeed!

This housing complex is called Habitat 67 and it is located in Montreal, Canada.  

Can you believe that it was built in 1967?  I thought it was built more recently.

It was built for the Expo of 67.  Now that's what I call a condo complex!

And a closer look at the complex.  Cool isn't it?  It's like Jenga for architecture.

Now that's an office building that reflects a company's business!  The
Longaberger Basket Building is in Newark, Ohio.  The company
manufactures hand crafted maple wood baskets and other home and
lifestyle products.  Funky isn't it?

House Attack!  The house is an outdoor sculpture at the 

Museum Moderner Kunst (MuMoK) in Vienna, Austria.

This building is in the amusement park Wonder Works located in Pigeon Forge,
Tennessee.  The park features over 150 interactive exhibits.  It's certainly a
way to make a grand entrance into a park!

Nuts huh!

Last but not least in this post is the Wooden Gagster House that was

located in Archangelsk, Russia.  The house was started in 1992 but

pulled down in 2008 - what a shame.  It was a 13 story home that 

was at one time, Russia's tallest wooden house.  It was constructed

by Nikolai Sutyagin and his family for over 15 years without formal

plans or a building permit.  Nikolai ended up spending a few years in

prison on racketeering charges and in 2008, it was condemned by the

city as a fire hazard and the courts ordered it to be demolished.

I hope everyone enjoyed this post today, more to come on strange

and creative buildings.  In the meantime, for any of you who live

in the bay area The Trove in Berkeley is having a fantastic sale on

What: Sale at Trove (Indian Shopping Soiree)
(Extra 15% off John Robshaw pillows and Bedding, 

10% off entire store, raffle prizes, small bites and cocktails.)

When: August 12 from 5-8PM.

Location: 1310 10th Street, Berkeley

Website:  www.trovehome.com

If any of you are interested, please RSVP to rsvp@rubypr.com 

and let them know that you were referred by Alkemie blog. Trove

has a great selection of items for the home at great prices to begin

with.  I just wanted to pass this opportunity on to my readers.

Photos from BoredPanda.com and StrangestBuildings.com

Architectural Building Facades - Curb Appeal

I've always been fascinated with the architectural details of

beautiful building facades. Building facades along with
landscaping make up the key elements of "curb appeal."

The house above looks so gorgeous! Although it would be tough
to maintain a white facade for a building - which I can see why
white can be seen as a color of the affluent by some.

I love how the the stairs wrap around to
meet at the entrance of this grand home.

Although this is a modern home, I love how the architectural
details of using stones for the outside walls - it gives the building
an older feel to the building. Simply gorgeous. I adore the
courtyard in the front.

Via Desire to Inspire

This would be the perfect setting for a garden party!

This cottage is humble yet so picturesque.

I would never paint my house pink but as you can see here,
it Can be done tastefully. What a beautiful home and yard.

The plants around and literally on this home are well
manicured. The greenery is so appealing to the eye -
and it lends to a really peaceful feeling.

Via Domino

I would have not thought to paint the entire face of a
building in a monochromatic color scheme, but it looks
quite good here.

What a beautiful garden to match this country cottage.

This home looks like it belongs in a fairy tale.

Curb Appeal by Sunset
Exciting Ways to Enhance the
Appearance of Your Home

If you're looking for some good books to
spice up your home's curb appeal or facade,
check some of these selections out! This book
gives some great tips.

HGTV's Curb Appeal

I love HGTV and they have some great
books out that take ideas and inspirations
from their programs. This book has great
tips and images so you can see what the
results look like.

House Colors: Exterior Color by
Style of Architecture

Need ideas what color you should paint the
outside of your home? It's hard enough having
to choose interior colors. Exterior colors can be
just as tough and it is especially important to be
able to match the color you choose with the style
in which your house was built in.

I usually try to always state the sources of my images,
I'm afraid I don't know where some of my images came
from above - probably from other fantastic sites or blogs.
I apologize for this. Hope everyone had a great weekend
and a great week to come.