One Toke Over the Line
I am a real estate junkie. I find myself poring over the real estate websites, checking out this house and that, imagining myself buying this property or that, driving through neighborhoods, blah blah blah. You get the picture. Every so often I notice a house that just stands out to me, not for beauty or charm, but for the sheer audacity of the homeowner to go where no man has gone before. I am sure everyone has such a house in mind. One of those spots on the block where you do a second take as you drive past, thinking "What the hell were they smoking?" I would like to dedicate this post to a couple of those spots. These houses bring a smile to my face every time I drive past them. In fact, I have been known to drive out of my way from time to time, just to have a look. I would like to throw these houses into contention for the "One Toke Over The Line" awards for 2011, homes that seem to have been inspired by or influenced by excess consumption of weed (or stronger hallucinogens, in some cases). To protect the innocent I will refrain from giving the location of these homes, although 1 or 2 of them may be immediately recognizable.
This first house is one that I feel a personal connection to, since it is in my neighborhood. This is a landscaping project run amok in a very small front yard. The project, if you can believe it, started out as a putting green. Yes, the homeowner started out sanding his front lawn and planting it with lovely golf course quality grass. That wasn't enough for him. He then widened his driveway by placing paving stones in a checkerboard fashion, with sand in between. He then created a lovely glass brick mailbox that at one time had a small gargoyle perched atop it and was lit from within. The next project, if memory serves, was to plant the area between the sidewalk and the street with crape myrtles and a myriad of other plants. I do not remember at what point the pond appeared, but yes, one year the putting green disappeared, only to be replaced by a fish pond. Then the guy built a deck on the front of his house so that he could sit out in the evenings and listen to the bullfrogs in his fish pond. The natural landscaping and ornamentation have grown over the years, and this is what it all looks like now:
This first house is one that I feel a personal connection to, since it is in my neighborhood. This is a landscaping project run amok in a very small front yard. The project, if you can believe it, started out as a putting green. Yes, the homeowner started out sanding his front lawn and planting it with lovely golf course quality grass. That wasn't enough for him. He then widened his driveway by placing paving stones in a checkerboard fashion, with sand in between. He then created a lovely glass brick mailbox that at one time had a small gargoyle perched atop it and was lit from within. The next project, if memory serves, was to plant the area between the sidewalk and the street with crape myrtles and a myriad of other plants. I do not remember at what point the pond appeared, but yes, one year the putting green disappeared, only to be replaced by a fish pond. Then the guy built a deck on the front of his house so that he could sit out in the evenings and listen to the bullfrogs in his fish pond. The natural landscaping and ornamentation have grown over the years, and this is what it all looks like now:
My only regret is that he has never invited me over for a few brewskis and a game of pool.
The next house I must mention is one I used to drive by on my way to work every morning. I am sure that this house started out as a simple suburban box house, but my oh my, how it has grown. I can't look at it without having to stifle an involuntary "Oh, my GAWD!" But isn't it wonderful? Seriously, what was this guy thinking?
I apologize for the blue tone of the photo, not sure what I did to make that happen. Look at the teentsy little doors on this place, totally out of scale to the overall structure. And what's going on with that gigantic diagonal awning over the front door? For that matter what's going on with that huge, shingled, perpendicular roof thingy? Or the roof over the carport? I'll bet that guy in my neighborhood would be glad to show these folks how to install a fishpond in their own front yard, it seems to be just the thing needed to really push the edge of the envelope here.
My last contribution is just something to make you smile, and it happens to be right down the street from the last house we looked at. I remember when this statue was first placed in the lawn. Another addition completely out of proportion to the home. Week after week I drove by the house, wondering what was that large package sitting under wraps in the driveway, while a rather large pedestal was being built. Imagine my pleased astonishment when at last the wraps were removed to unveil this:
Yes, BY GOD, a laughing buddha!!!! I had to take the picture from the backside, because I wanted to give an idea of the scale of this enormous thing, but had to include a picture of this jolly rancher's face, hence the inset.
I do have another candidate or two in mind, but I would really like to get input on this. Does anybody out there have a really wacky home to share?
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