the winchester mystery house

The Winchester Mystery House is a well-known California mansion that was under construction continuously for 38 years, and is reported to be haunted. It once was the personal residence of Sarah Winchester, the widow of gun magnate William Wirt Winchester. Under Winchester's day-to-day guidance, its "from-the-ground-up" construction proceeded around-the-clock, without interruption (day & night), from 1884 until her death on September 5, 1922, at which time work immediately ceased.

Deeply saddened by the deaths of her infant daughter Annie in 1866 and then her young husband in 1881, Sarah Winchester was left all alone (as well as extremely wealthy). Seeking solace, she consulted a psychic, who told her that she believed there to be a curse upon the Winchester family because the guns they made had taken so many lives. The psychic told Winchester that "thousands of people have died because of it and their spirits are now seeking deep vengeance." The psychic told her that she must build a house and never cease building it, otherwise the spirits that killed her family members would come after her too. After that she began construction on the maze-like house full of twists & turns and dead-ends so that the spirits would get lost and never be able to find her. The mansion is renowned for its size and utter lack of any master building plan... including things like stairways to no where, trick doors and secret passages.

the winchester mystery house on wikipedia

architecture inspired by manta ray, coveted by yours truly

Ecological Children Activity and Education Center created by 24H > architecture on Koh Kood Island, Thailand. Constructed mostly from locally harvested bamboo.









read about this structure and see some more pics @ arch daily
i originally came across a post about this place @ accidental mysteries

i wanna live in a giant seashell

This house belongs to a Mexico City couple and was created by architects at Senosiain Arquitectos. It's more of a sculpture than a dwelling. Taking cues from a Nautilus shell, the house is put together using ferrocement construction, a technique involving a frame of steel-reinforced chicken wire with a special two-inch-thick composite of concrete spread over it, resulting in a structure that's earthquake-proof and maintenance-free. The open concept inside the house is dominated by smooth surfaces, spiral stairs and natural plantings that makes the inhabitants feel like they're living inside a snail who swallowed the entire contents of somebody's back yard. While the house is surrounded on three sides by the bustling Mexico City, its West side (where most of its portal-style windows are located) has a breathtaking view of the mountains.