Home Sweet Home Unusual houses Something alien has

Home Sweet Home Unusual houses

Something alien has made its home on Signal Mountain in Tennessee. Truckers and travelers encounter the out of this world sight as they wind their way up US 27. A large saucer structure, propped up on four legs and standing a story off the ground, offers all the conveniences of modern living to its starry eyed owners.

Margate City, NJ (close to Atlantic City) is home to Lucy the elephant. Lucy is the world's largest elephant and the only one to be designated a National Historic Landmark. James V. Lafferty built Lucy in 1881. She stands 6 stories high and weighs 90 tons! She served as a hotel and then a tavern. Today visitors can tour Lucy's innards and visit her gift shop.

The building in Point Pleasant, WV, is not so unusual but the owners wanted windows and trees. What to do? Just paint them on.

Suffolk County, NY, is home to the Duck House. It was built in 1931 by duck farmer Martin Mauer and his wife, Jeuel, in hopes of promoting the sale of their Peking ducks. The duck farm is long gone and land developers wanted to build homes on the site so the Duck House was moved to Suffolk County.

Shoe magnate Mahlon Haines built the Shoe House in Hallam, PA in 1948. He lent it free of charge to honeymooners. The current owners now conduct tours of its three surprisingly lovely bedrooms, and operate a home -made ice cream parlor.

Originally intended to wow visitors to a proposed housing development called Neptune Gardens, this replica of the Santa Maria has been "docked" in its current location since 1928. It has served as office space, an apartment and a gift shop. For the past two decades, it has been a book and curio shop.