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 I want to explode logs on vacation, but talk about a fun outing for the kids.

Learn more at Woodlyn Park.

Thanks to Mary Jo for the tip.

[image via Woodlyn Park]

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 365]

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 b5media blogger is headed off to Italy soon. Am I jealous? Well a little a lot. I could let that part of me flow and be mean but, taking the high road, I decided to find some good places for her to stay instead. I’m quite sure she has some places to stay planned already, but just in case those plans fall through, there is always the offbeat and unique lodging of Italy to choose from.

The lovely and full of old school charm, Villa Belsito in Avetrana with a view of the sea (sigh):

I really like this rental in Tuscany. It looks not so unique at the start but it’s actually a restoration of an ancient tower. Coolness! Vineyards, gardens, and relaxation galore.

Here’s an interesting, yet slightly scary looking place to stay - notice how it’s almost crushed into the side of the mountain. Odd stuff:

Listen to this description, pay close attention to the “Guido” part. It sounds like something out of a fairy story.

“Il Convento is a unique and unusual property occupying the entire upper floor of a Xth century monastery, the “Badia di Santa Maria Olearia”. The house is a separate building next to the abbey and comprises the caretaker’s quarters on the lower floor, and the monastery complex itself, now owned by Italy’s Ministry of Culture. Guido the caretaker, will be delighted to provide you with a private tour of the Badia, with its medieval frescos, monks’ catacombs and chapel.”

If I went a traveling, just where might I stay? Well somewhere fit for a princess of course:

This little castle at the Tuscany and Lazio border is so great. Handmade brick floors, external stonework. antique furniture and paintings, surrounded by sunflower fields, sloping olive groves and vineyards. Can you see me there? I can. How about, can you see yourself there? Some wine, some sunsets, ahhhh.

Many more pictures of my delightful castle here.

To learn more about renting any of the properties above, for your own wonderful Italy vacation, simply click on the picture.

There, I’ve done my part to help out all the people lucky enough to actually be heading to Italy - hopefully my karma will remember this.  Where would you go on your dream vacation?

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 the heart of the Paradise Valley, Montana near Yellowstone Park, Paradise Valley, Livingston, Bozeman, Pine Creek, Chico Hot Springs and Big Sky - that makes this home fairly close to my favorite place in Montana; Red Lodge and Beartooth Highway. I liked Red Lodge and the highway so much that I named my son after it. Thus, the location works for me.

There are views of the Montana Rocky mountain and Yellowstone River from all five levels! There’s even a ladder to a roof deck, where I’m guessing the views might make you faint. This home has been featured on a Dwell cover (nice) and has won some nice awards as well.

Below the view from inside - seriously the sky is huge in Montana. Look at that. Just beautiful.

About the home (from the home’s website):

• “Very private 14 acre property in the heart of the Paradise Valley overlooking the Yellowstone River surrounded by 12,000 ft mountains, horse pastures, ranches and open fields.
• 3 bedrooms - 2 with queen beds & 1 with a full bed / 2 full bathrooms / kitchen loft / sleeps up to 5-6 people. Additional room available in the barn bunk house for an additional fee.
• Aproximately 1,750 sq ft on 4 levels plus 7 additional decks including rooftop view level.
• Roof deck is one of the highest “manmade” points in the Paradise Valley
• Stainless steel appliances, Corian countertops, kitchen island, Kohler bath fixtures, washer dryer, gas BBQ.
• WiFi Internet connection, Direct TV, DVD, Sony 36″ big screen, audiophile stereo system, gas fireplace.
• Steps to Yellowstone River fly fishing, kayaking and rafting.”

So, a little big for simple loving me, but I think I’d find a way to survive my vacation. The amazing architecture alone would sustain me.

Below - wouldn’t you know they’d show the house at twilight. Like I already wasn’t smitten.

It looks like you can rent the home for your vacation, or even possibly buy it, and have all for yourself all year long. Not sure if it’s still for sale though. You can find out, and see many more ridiculously gorgeous photos by visiting the home’s website.

Now that we’ve narrowed down where my ideal vacation would be (well, at least narrowed to five or so choices) where would you go? You can go anywhere on earth - where would that be? Chances are, I’d be able to find you an offbeat something to stay in.

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 cool!

Above is the front entry. I think that this would be a nice place for a peaceful simple wedding (or the honeymoon). There’s wine tasting near by (more than 60 wineries within 10 miles), and the amazing views:

Ah. They have a nice hot tub overlooking this view as well. Plus you can’t beat the weather in Sonoma County; besides Humboldt, it’s one of my favorite places in CA.

Visit the Redwood Tree House

View the entire top 10 most unique vacation rentals slide show.

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 are all neutral colors and have three car garages.

Here’s what I think. I think they should have designed them with polka dot roofs, because come on, if you’re going to build an entire village of mushrooms, why not make it really insane. Also they need various colors. All that red would be no vacation for me.

In any case I’ve been waiting to see the actual site for this village - but haven’t yet. Or, I’m just looking in the wrong places. I’m going to have to do some more research.

Would you take a holiday in a mushroom?