Yeah you could sleep in a real boat, but on land, this becomes a little offbeat.  The Waitanic Ship Motel  is located in Woodlyn Park, (New Zealand) and is just one of the strange motels you can stay in. There’s also the The Hobbit Motel, the Train Motel, and a Plane Motel.
Actually, even if you skip the motels entirely, a trip to Woodlyn Park sounds downright kooky.  There’s a Billy Black’s
Kiwi Culture Show where you get to… 

“Light the fuse to explode a log
Help shear a sheep
Team up and saw a log
Experience sheep dogs working
See the Kiwi Bear”

Not sure if …read more

This beach house is a total minimalist treasure. Perfect in size for what it needs to accomplish, you could vacation at a place like this comfortably.

Do you love it! I want one for Christmas -maybe in a place like Humboldt – this one resides in a seaside town in northeast Kent. Just look at the interior.

Beautiful clean lines and simplicity – perfect.
To see more images and to learn more visit Architect Visit: Studiomama Beach Chalet at Remodelista, a nice peaceful slice of a blog. Thanks to Peggy for the tip.
[images via Remodelista]

I’m thinking this would be one chilly house when winter hits. Also, I don’t know about you, but waking up with few windows, and limited natural light, would put me in a bad mood.

Now you may be thinking – this is more a room then a house, and I suppose you’d be right. I’ve heard around that these are sort of cabins, or little hotel type deals. You can stay there. I wish I remembered which site I saw with more info. For now, you can at least check out some interior images at Home Design 365.
[image via Home Design …read more

This home, designed by Nuno Grande & Pedro Gadanho, is lovely and realistic, adapting to the landscape, not making the landscape adjust to it’s form. Always a good deal.
It’s supposed to be a weekend vacation home, and it certainly does seem soothing:

I just love the underneath all lit up like this. Perfect for vacation evenings.
Read the whole back story, Weekend Retreat at Carreço at ArkiSpot. See more photos of this house at Casas Minimalistas.
[images via: Casas Minimalistas]

Vacation week was cut short because I guess I took my own advice and had a wee break. I have a really slick new design from Antonino Cardillo coming up this month (soon!) and some other neat items planned. First though, I had planned to show at least something vacation centered from Italy. Why, well I’m just a little Italy obsessed. I’ve always wanted to go visit – see the amazing historical designs and landscape. My sister went once and she noted that yes, it’s right up my alley – and she’d know.
Now, I recently found out that a fellow …read more

This week we’re taking a break and going away. We’re looking at offbeat vacation homes all week that are anywhere but where you are. Unless of course, you’re on vacation, and then well, lucky you.
Ideally, for my perfect vacation, I’d go to Italy. I’ve got a bad crush on Italy. However, rounding in at a close second would be Montana. Or maybe San Francisco… or Napa… hmmm, ok, I like a lot of places. Let’s pretend Montana would be my second choice though for this post’s sake.
In Montana, I’d rent this offbeat beauty:

The “Paradise Valley Tower House” is located in …read more

The Casa Ecologica, located in Praia do Rosa – Santa Catarina is sweet. Very nice, like a small pointy hat or crayon tip. I’m guessing that this might be an eco-friendly vacation home from the info at this home’s website. Don’t quote me on that though. My Spanish is VERY sketchy.
Still, you don’t have to speak another language to see how cool this home is:

I think my son might like one as a playhouse – maybe smaller in that case though. To learn more or even make reservations visit AlugueTemporada.

Jamie, from HomeAway, recently sent me some info about a cool slide show – as you’ve likely guessed the slides are of the top 10 odd vacation rentals. It’s a slick slide show (say that 10 times fast), covering different areas of the world. You’ll really enjoy it.
Example: One of these vacation homes shown in the show is the amazing Redwood Tree House on the Russian River in Healdsburg, CA. One, this is an absolutely beautiful area. I love this part of Californian. Two, what other vacation home has a tree growing through it? Not many I’d wager.
See:

That is so …read more

Is this for real? It supposedly is. I heard about this mushroom village before; but you know, I wonder if it’s been built yet. A few sites I’ve read state that it was started in 2007 – but finding current production stats on the village has been tough.

So, according to most places I’ve seen this, the entire vacation village will be made up of mushroom-like homes. A retreat for families, located in Akbuk Bay, Turkey. One mushroom house would be funky and cute. Tons of mushrooms all together only reminds me of those obnoxious suburban neighborhoods where the homes …read more