The world's most unusual homes of 2018
Kendle Design Collaborative
This year's most intriguing properties
Ever wanted to live in a truly unique, one-of-a-kind dwelling? Join the club... There's no question about it, this year offered up a plethora of intriguing, wow-factor properties to add to our wish lists. From a multi-coloured mansion to a treehouse in the wilderness and even a house built into a viaduct, these exceptional homes of 2018 are just a little bit out of the ordinary...
Candice Lake / Undercurrent Architects
Steel viaduct home, London, UK
Candice Lake / Undercurrent Architects
Steel viaduct home, London, UK
The property was designed by Undercurrent Architects as an industrial work-come-living space. Built from Corten steel cladding, the home wraps around the railway's viaduct archways, making for a truly unique aesthetic, both inside and out.
Candice Lake / Undercurrent Architects
Steel viaduct home, London, UK
The interior benefits from unique curves, cleverly designed in a balloon-like shape with extensive windows to encourage the travel of natural light inside.
Candice Lake / Undercurrent Architects
Steel viaduct home, London, UK
Covering 1,600 square feet over three floors, the family home utilises a simple colour palette, with light wooden flooring, reflective glass balustrades and crisp white paintwork.
Candice Lake / Undercurrent Architects
Steel viaduct home, London, UK
The two-bedroom property was recently sold for almost £1.1 million ($1.4m), proving that sought-after real estate need not follow the rules of tradition.
Converted horse stable, Melbourne, Australia
Located in the Fitzroy neighbourhood of Melbourne, Australia, this unique property was once a 19th-century terrace house and dilapidated horse stable.
Converted horse stable, Melbourne, Australia
Known as King Bill, the home has a distinctive curved aesthetic, built from corrugated zinc-aluminium composite panels. Designed by Austin Maynard Architects, the original building was converted and extended using natural materials, including wood, metal and brick.
READ MORE: 10 breathtaking barn conversions
Converted horse stable, Melbourne, Australia
Inside, the dwelling is extremely bespoke, boasting an amazing netted platform suspended over the first floor. Open-plan with designer furniture, the home also offers hidden alcoves, perfect for relaxing. Curved walls and windows, a muted colour scheme and a minimalist finish add to the home's inspiring design.
Converted horse stable, Melbourne, Australia
The forever home covers two storeys and also features a rippled glass passageway, linking the old horse stable with the new and improved main house.
Converted horse stable, Melbourne, Australia
The winner of numerous awards, including the Victorian Architecture Awards 2018, a prestigious prize presented by the Australian Institute of Architects, King Bill was also a finalist in the World House of the Year awards.
Multi-coloured villa, New York, USA
This dwelling certainly isn't a shrinking violet. Painted in 52 different colours, Bioscleave House is an architectural rainbow nestled in New York's East Hampton.
Multi-coloured villa, New York, USA
Designed by poet Madeline Gins and her husband, conceptual artist Arakawa, the bold property hit the market this year with a hefty price tag of $2.5 million (£1.9m).
Multi-coloured villa, New York, USA
Delve inside and it's a playground for the senses – uneven floors, a loud colour palette and crazy textures. The otherworldly interior is designed to make residents use their bodies in unexpected ways and, according its architects, stimulate the immune system.
Multi-coloured villa, New York, USA
Totaling 2,700 square feet, the idea behind the quirky structure is to ensure homeowners are constantly engaged with the space they inhabit. The dwelling's designers say that the stimulation offered by the interior's unconventional surfaces could keep the next occupants in peak health. We'll throw out that gym membership now then?
READ MORE: 50 of the world's most colourful homes
Multi-coloured villa, New York, USA
Still on the market with Brown Harris Stevens, this unusual property includes four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, a study, living room and sunken kitchen.
Tim Soar / Sarah Griffiths + Amin Taha
Contemporary family home, Henley-on-Thames, UK
Taking more than 10 years to bring to life, this unusual contemporary self build epitomises the current trend for architectural grand designs.
Tim Soar / Sarah Griffiths + Amin Taha
Contemporary family home, Henley-on-Thames, UK
Tim Soar / Sarah Griffiths + Amin Taha
Contemporary family home, Henley-on-Thames, UK
The newly built home is located in sought-after Henley-on-Thames and sits in a south-facing position close to the river. Covering an internal area of 575 square metres, the home features an outdoor reflecting pool and was constructed from an S-shape of concrete, which sits above a wall of glass on the ground floor.
Tim Soar / Sarah Griffiths + Amin Taha
Contemporary family home, Henley-on-Thames, UK
When designing the property, the architects envisioned a country villas for the 21st century. Inside, the family home is light-filled and bespoke, with designer features, raw materials and extensive glazing, allowing for incredible landscape views.
Gianni Botsford Architects
Subterranean copper house, London, UK
Measuring 247 square metres, this architectural work of art features a funnel roof, clad with strips of eye-catching copper. The site was originally home to a rundown 60s bungalow before architect Gianni Botsford took the plot under his wing.
Gianni Botsford Architects
Subterranean copper house, London, UK
Following eight years of planning and construction work, Botsford and his team finally completed the ultra-contemporary dwelling this year. Situated across three floors, two of them underground, the unique roof design was chosen to help channel light into the living spaces.
Gianni Botsford Architects
Subterranean copper house, London, UK
Copper accents run throughout the interior too, with the kitchen featuring cabinets, a splash back and tap faucets in the warm metal. Mined from the earth, the architects opted for copper because it reflected the subterranean nature of the home, which takes shape beneath the ground.
Gianni Botsford Architects
Subterranean copper house, London, UK
Greenery-filled lightwells ensure the underground levels still benefit from plenty of natural sunlight. Carefully designed sun tunnels illuminate the master bedroom suite and the 10-metre luxury swimming pool in the lower basement.
READ MORE: 6 things you need to know before you convert your basement
Gianni Botsford Architects
Subterranean copper house, London, UK
The genius of this dwelling lies in the clever interplay of light and dark. "Reacting to the light like a tree, the ground floor pavilion-like structure floats above the ground creating distant views through gaps in the city and to the sky", Gianni Botsford Architects explains.
Asymmetric wood home, Rotorua, New Zealand
Named Turama, this intricately-crafted property was a 2018 Home of Year finalist in New Zealand. Its unique design is steeped in heritage, deeply rooted in concepts of Maori identity, along with the local communities in Rotorua.
Asymmetric wood home, Rotorua, New Zealand
Situated in one of Rotorua's poorest suburbs, architects RTA Studio say the dwelling is intended to be a beacon for the local community. The home's oxidized steel form is described as a cloke of protection for those who reside there.
Patrick Reynolds / RTA Studio
Asymmetric wood home, Rotorua, New Zealand
Angular, gabled windows allow natural sunlight to flood the home, creating a bright and spacious open-plan living area. Built on land owned by the same family for 16 generations, the property is designed to offer a comforting space for current and future residents.
Patrick Reynolds / RTA Studio
Asymmetric wood home, Rotorua, New Zealand
Inside, the contemporary interior celebrates the home's fascinating angles. A cosy window seat is nestled inside the structure's thick walls – the perfect place to curl up on a cold winter's day.
Patrick Reynolds / RTA Studio
Asymmetric wood home, Rotorua, New Zealand
Treehouse retreat, Zhejiang, China
Designed by Monoarchi architectural studio, this striking cabin is certainly worthy of a doubletake or two. Measuring eight metres high and crafted from wood, its freeform roof looks almost as though it's been draped over the walls.
Treehouse retreat, Zhejiang, China
This one-of-a-kind property is located on the banks of a stream in the mountain village of Zhongcun, in China's Zhejiang Province. Angular steel stilts raise the dwelling above ground level, providing incredible views of the bamboo-covered hills that flank the site on either side.
Treehouse retreat, Zhejiang, China
The pared-back interior is carefully designed, situating personal spaces like the bedroom against the inner edge of the home's spiral structure for added privacy.
Treehouse retreat, Zhejiang, China
From above, this quirky dwelling forms a series of interlocking circles, moving from the deck to the main house, and then to the inset roof terrace situated on the top floor.
Kendle Design Collaborative
Angular desert house, Arizona, USA
With its dramatic pointed roofs, this unique home in Paradise Valley, Arizona, truly is the jewel of the desert. Built from rammed earth and exposed concrete, Dancing Light House is a space of striking shapes and textures.
Kendle Design Collaborative
Angular desert house, Arizona, USA
Designed by Kendle Design Collaborative, the property blurs the boundaries between its structure and the surrounding landscape. A floating roof canopy ushers the outside in, creating a versatile and stylish outdoor living space.
Kendle Design Collaborative
Angular desert house, Arizona, USA
The dwelling's architects were inspired by the geology of the desert, incorporating indigenous materials and harnessing swathes of natural light. Layered walls of earth, metal, concrete and glass delineate the home's fluid layout, creating a flexible structure.
Kendle Design Collaborative
Angular desert house, Arizona, USA
Situated at the heart of the property, an atrium houses the sleek kitchen which features industrial-style exposed concrete walls. Sliding glass doors offer a channel for sunlight, and the option to open up dinner time to the great outdoors.
READ MORE: 10 homes as far away from the real world as you can get