5 Strangest Houses in the World

Winston Churchill once said: "We shape buildings. From then on, they shape us." If that's the case, then there must be some pretty strangely-shaped people out there.

After all, while many homes are traditional farmhouses or Tudors, there are some that take inventiveness to the next level, providing an out-of-this-world experience for the person or people living in it. It is in honor of that penchant for the bizarre that we, here at Traveler's Today, have listed below, five of the absolute strangest houses in the world. Places who take creativity and oddity to a whole new level.

5. The Mushroom House, Ohio

College professors are known for being eccentric. But the late Terry Brown, Professor at the University of Cincinnati School of Design, takes the cake. Indeed, this strange professor did more than just show up to class late and give his students weird nicknames. He lived in a giant mushroom. Literally. And, although Professor Brown died in 2008, his rather strange house still stands, a legacy to the man who built it and the state that it calls home.

4. Stone House, Portugal

Most people would take the expression "you must live under a rock," as an insult. But the residents of Stone House, Portugal wouldn't see it that way. Indeed, the denizens of this massive tourist attraction would have to affably agree. After all, Stone House is, for all intents-and-purposes, just a big clump of rocks. And yet, it is designed specifically for habitation, complete with bedrooms, living rooms, and kitchen. So next time you think that you're house isn't finished enough, just think about how much worse it could be - at least you have real walls.

3. The Nautilus, Mexico

Interested in a more Oceanic vibe? Look no further than the Nautilus, a Mexican home that really takes the sea to heart. After all, the entire exterior of the Nautilus looks like a washed-up sea-shell, a vivid mix of sandstone and colored glass that really looks like it belongs on the beach. Plus, the inside is even more remarkable, a twisting, turning creation that will take you out of this world.

2. The Toilet House, South Korea

You might have heard the nursery rhyme about the little old woman who lived in a shoe. But if you thought that lady had problems, just think how bad it must be for the residents of South Korea's recently constructed "Toilet House," a place designed specifically to look like, you guessed it, a toilet. Indeed, everything about the house, from the porcelain finish of the roof and walls, to the dark-tinted windows, looks just like a traditional bathroom unit. Luckily, the inside doesn't share the same ambition for direct authenticity. And yet, even though the Toilet House may not be full of, ahem, "water," on the inside, it's hard to imagine any amount of luxury that would make up for living in a giant replica of, well, a toilet.

1. The "Flintstone's House," California

However, the number one spot is reserved for something (and someone) a little more notable. After all it's not hard to imagine some people wanting strange houses. But few of us would ever imagine that someone in the public sphere would be as unapologetically eccentric. And yet, the late host of American Bandstand and New Years Rockin' Eve, Dick Clark, was just that kind of guy, designing and building his own home modeled after the residence in the animated television show, the Flintstones. And he did a bang-up job: the house is complete with everything except for dinosaur-based plumbing, a model home with stone floors and plenty of light.

It is that level of strangeness that puts Dick Clark's Flintstones Manor at the top of our list, a testament to just how interesting and exotic home architecture can be.