5 Weirdest Houses in the USA

You all probably have seen some weird buildings, but today I am going to give you a list of 5 weirdest American private houses.

1. Mushroom House

The Mushroom House, also called Pod House, is located in Perinton, NY. It was built between 1970-1972. In 1989 it was designated a town landmark. The house looks like several mushrooms standing close to one another. 

2. Haines Shoe House

The Haines Shoe House was built in 1948 by a shoe salesman as a form of advertisement. It is located in Hallam, PA. Nowadays it serves mostly as a tourist attraction.

3. Spaceship House

Spaceship House was built in 1972 for the owner's son. It is located near Signal Mountain, TN. This saucer-shaped building is a tribute to space ships of that era. Every single room in the building is round. People or tourists interested in this house may rent it for some time (a week or a month). 

4. Sculptured House

Also known as 'the Sleeper House', the Sculptured House is located on Genesee Mountain, CO. It was built 1963 by architect Charles Deaton. It is featured in Woody Allen's movie 'Sleeper'. 

5. Dick Clark's Flinstones Inspired Home

It is located in Malibu, CA. It is carved entirely from stone. After the death of Dick Clark (in 2012) it was put up for sale, and in 2014 was bought for $1, 777,777. This house was inspired by the famous cartoon called 'The Flinstones'. 

TASK for you: find other weird (or at least unusual) private houses in the USA and write where are they located. 

Seattle Central Library

If you enjoy reading books, you will certainly have to visit Seattle Central Library in Washington state. 

This magnificent building is the newest and the most recognizable building of the Seattle's Public Library complex. It was opened to the public in 2004 and its popularity has been growing since then. In the first year of its activity, over 2.000.000 people visited it. This 56.9 meters-high and 33,722.6 square-meters building is made of glass and steel. It is estimated that the library can hold approximately 1.45 million books. It also features an underground parking lot for 143 vehicles and has over 400 computers available for users.

This is the third building of the Seattle's Public Library complex. Seattle Central Library was built because the two previously built libraries were just too small, cramped and did not have enough space for storing more and more books. That's how the idea of building a new library came to existence. 

From the very beginning of its existence Seattle Central Library was shocking and very controversial. Many people responded very critically to its weird appearance characterized by an unusual and modern design. Despite all the criticism, however, the building was generally accepted by Americans and in 2007 was even added to "Americans' 150 favorite structures in the US" list (voted #108). 

Reading room in Seattle Central Library

Hall

Illuminated escalator inside the building

Another reading room

Seattle Central Library from the outside

The library is very modern and tries to be as accessible to users as possible. It offers wireless communication, 400 public computers, automatic book-sorting and self check-out. It also has the opinion of being extremely well lit  - thus allowing readers to read comfortably - and generally user-friendly. 

TASK: Find other libraries (either in the US or elsewhere) which are also as modern and as unusual as Seattle Central Library.