Strange Buildings......



America has its share of strange or unusual buildings.

 The one above is the Binocular building.
It is located on Main Street in Venice, CA, and is

 home to the Chiat / Day / Mojo Advertising Agency.
It was built in 1991.

Let's peek through the binoculars and see what others we can find. 




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. 





This building is home to the Bondurant Pharmacy.
It was built in 1975 and is located in Lexington, KY. 

You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice

cream!  Anyone wanting an ice cream cone in Perry,

 MI, shouldn't have a bit of trouble finding this building.

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.




We all know North Carolina is famous for

 the manufacturing of fine furniture.
This building is located in High Point, NC, and

 was built in the 1920's. It now serves as offices

for the High Point Jaycees. By the way, the

sock hanging out of the drawer is six ft. long.





Anyone for a picnic?
This huge basket building in Licking County,

OH, is home to the offices of Longaberger

 Basket Company.





The building in Point Pleasant, WV, is not so unusual

 but, the owners wanted windows and trees.

 What to do? Just paint them on.





 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, NY.





Frank Redford built his wigwam gas station / restaurant

and the Wigwam Village Motel in the 1930's in Horse

 Cave, KY. He later built five more Wigwam Villages

 across the country but the one in Horse Cave is

the only one remaining.

 



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 lure 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.





People driving by often do a double take when they spot Wonderworks.
This three-story tall, classically-designed building appears

to have landed, upside down, atop a 1930s era brick

 warehouse. Inside await a myriad of fun things to do

 for the entire family. Next time you're in Orlando, FL,

stop by. I promise you won't have to stand on your

head to enjoy it.