The world is full of exotic buildings, and a good many of them are right here in the good ol’ US of A. Florida, Nevada, Tennessee, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Texas, Colorado, California, Alaska, North Carolina, New York and Mississippi all appear on a two-part list of Strange Buildings of the World. A fascinating site called Village of Joy showcases this list of 100 of the world’s most unusual buildings. You can see photos of all of them if you visit the site.
Closer to home you can find Midwest representatives of the list in Newark, OH (Longaberger Basket Company office building); Kansas City, MO (public library), Grand Marais, MI (Pickle Barrel House); and Cincinnati, OH (Mushroom House [aka the Tree House]).
The list actually represents structures from around the world, and many of the individual buildings are legitimate visitor attractions in their own right. And the Midwest entries? Not so much. Except for the Longaberger Basket building, which is the centerpiece of a collection of visitor-worthy attractions, the others are strictly of the “swing by if you’re in the area” category.
Newark, Ohio’s most famous building is surely the headquarters of the Longaberger Basket Company, an American success story that started with a handful of dedicated basket makers. The building is a replica (but 160 times bigger) of a Longaberger Medium Market Basket, complete with dual handles arching high into the air. The 150-ton handles are heated to prevent ice buildup. An obvious trademark of the Longaberger Company, the 180,000 square-foot building has been the star of features in many periodicals, including People, Time and the Wall Street Journal.
In Newark and the nearby communities of Frazeysburg, Nashport and Dresden, you can take in the Longaberger Homestead and Basketmaking Experience®, the Longaberger Gold Club®, the Longaberger hometown and, of course, the home office. The company even owns and operates its own hotel, The Place® Off the Square, in Newark. To learn more, visit the Longaberger website or call 740/322-7800.
The Kansas City Public Library has a remarkable adornment to the exterior of its parking facility—a treatment that looks like a shelf of giant books. KC residents and library patrons suggested titles to fill the shelf. Among them are Tale of Two Cities, Romeo and Juliet, Charlotte’s Web and Lord of the Rings.
The pride of Grand Marais, MI, the storied Pickle Barrel House, is really a two-story cabin built of two “barrels.” The design is based on two-inch high cartoon characters who lived in a pickle barrel. The series, created by author and cartoonist William Donahey, followed the exploits of these Teenie Weenies. Donahey had the house built by the Pioneer Cooperage Company of Chicago as a gift for his wife. The couple used it as a summer home in coastal Grand Marais for many years. On July 3, 2005, the refurbished Pickle Barrel House opened as a museum displaying how the Donaheys lived in the earlier years.
Architect and professor of Architecture and Interior Design at the University of Cincinnati, Terry Brown, created Cincinnati’s Mushroom House. It is a strange structure indeed. The house was built with the help of Brown’s students. In 2006 it was offered for sale—two years before its builder died.
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