Housing - the Ultimate Repurposing

Who wouldn't love to live in a unique, one-of-a-kind home?  A place that, when people
drove by, they said, "Wow.  That took a lot of imagination and hard work."  

In 1948, shoe manufacturing tycoon Mahlon Haines built this

larger-than-life shoe in Hellam, Pa, as an advertising gimmick.

It's been used as a Bed and Breakfast and is still used today as a

guest cottage.  Wouldn't you love to spend the night here?

Quonset huts were designed during World War II for equipment storage.

They were easy to transport, construct and disassemble.  The energy efficient

arch-style shape makes them inexpensive to maintain.  Quonset huts are quickly

becoming the new 'green' home.  

A savvy lot owner on South Bass Island, Lake Erie, gives new

meaning to the term "dry docking".  Living in one of the boats,

he rents out the other one to tourists.  Smart! 

Shipping containers aren't just for transporting consumer goods

around the world.  Architects and designers are taking advantage of

the abundance of used containers and converting them into homes or

vacation get-aways.  At less than $50K, they're definitely economical.     

A San Francisco fire house was converted into a private home.

I know, I know, I want one, too. 

Folks have been converting old cabooses and railroad cars into

private homes for many years.  Most agree that the biggest

expense is simply transporting the car to their lot.

 "Big Yellow" might look industrial and imposing from the

outside but take a look at the luxurious interior:

 A Seattle architect purchased a rail car, relocated it to the

water and built a vacation home around it.

Ten years ago, a couple in Paintsville, Ky, purchased the town's

Colonial Revival-style Post Office for $162K and got to work:

Beautiful.  And, lots of parking!

These homeowners built a traditional house inside a commercial hangar:

Wouldn't these unusual old commercial buildings

make great homes?!

I just don't think I could get use to living in the middle of a freeway.

Photo thanks to:  Hooked on Houses; The Daily Green; 1800 Recycling; Shorpy's