5 homes with amazing staircases

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Staircase slide and bookcase staircase

Circular stairs were commonplace in castle towers during medieval times. Staircases were designed to go the same direction all the way around, ascending clockwise, to suit right-handed swordsmen for ease in hindering the attacker. Fast forward to the late 1800s and stair design changes dramatically when steel and reinforced concrete are introduced, and the use of dramatic curves and fantastic sweeps become important elements in staircase workmanship. Even today, stair-crafting ingenuity continues, with many staircases doubling for incredible feats of gravity and eye-popping works of art. (Pics)

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Dome house rotates to take advantage of sun’s energy

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Rotating dome house

Usually, when someone asks for the remote, it’s because they want to undertake some serious TV channel surfing. But in one unique home located just 90 minutes north of New York City, playing with the remote control will set the entire wooden house spinning on its axis. (Pics and video)

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The Obscura Society

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Local geography CAN be interesting.

Atlas Obscura had a great success earlier this year with Obscura Day, a project to get people all over involved in their local geography and interesting places. It was so successful that they are now forming The Obscura Society, a club in which people not only explore places, but share their experiences with others.

Born of the success of Obscura Day, this real-world exploration arm of Atlas Obscura will be seeking out secret histories, unusual access, and opportunities to explore strange and overlooked places hidden all around us, all year round – and we could not be more excited about it…

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60 recycled shipping containers transformed into London’s Boxpark Shopping Mall

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Recycling takes on a new form at Boxpark.

Boxpark is a new shopping mall built from standard-sized recycled shipping containers. Located in London’s ultra-hip east end, the shops are achingly trendy, with the majority selling tee-shirts, shoes and some jeans. All with attitude, of course.

The container village is painted black and white and contains 60 containers which are stacked two stories high and five rows wide. It is all a pop-up, easily plunked down…

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World’s largest model railroad

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Miniatur Wunderland (in German it means “miniature wonderland”)  is the world’s largest model railroad, with over 39,000 feet of tracks taking up over 12,000 square feet in Hamburg. Construction on Miniatur Wunderland began in 2001, the project is not expected to be finished until 2020, at which point it will be twice as big as it is today.

 

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House built on top of a volcano

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House built on a Southern Calif. volcano.

Not every day you come across a unique home that looks like a UFO.  And you certainly wouldn’t come across one that is built on top of a volcano.  But there is a curious dwelling located between Las Vegas and Los Angeles that is sitting atop a volcano.  To be precise, the home is located in Newberry Springs, CA on top of a volcanic cinder cone. (Pics)

 

 

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