Monday, March 25, 2013

HIDDEN TREASURES IN HOUSTON, TEXAS

Saturday, March 23 – Don't let the title fool you. Marsha loves to go exploring roadside wonders.  The treasurer is in the eye of the beholder.

Being our last day in Houston, we spent it with Carrie. We started with a stop at the Beer Can House.

beer can house

John Milkovisch  is responsible for this one of a kind property.  This project, now known as the Beer Can House, started in 1968, when he began inlaying thousands of marbles, rocks, and metal pieces into concrete and redwood to form unique landscaping features. He did it because he "got sick of mowing the grass."

His address in marbles.
address in marbles

He then began adding aluminum siding – aluminum beer can siding, that is, to his house. It took him 18 years to make the house disappeared under a cover of flattened beer cans. Also, there are beer can fences, beer cans hanging from the roof, beer can mailbox, everywhere beer cans.

One of the beer-can fences.
beer can fense

beer can mailbox

John's lemon tree.
lemon tree

There are many different types of beer that John, himself, drank (though his neighbors and his wife, Mary, were always glad to lend a hand!).

Glass-bottle fence in backyard.
glass-bottle fence in backyard

You could even get a guided tour for $5.00, We passed on that. It was surprising how many people were stopping to see this place. Bet the neighbors love having this located on their street. Ha Ha!

We then drove a short distance to the Painted Railroad Cars.

painted rr cars

painted rr cards

This is actually someone's law office. The fence is made from old RR wheels and rails, and there are appropriate lawn sculptures scattered around.

fence

painted rr cards

How would you like to live next door to this place?

We then took a break for lunch at the Black Walnut Cafe.

black walnut cafe

This was a great lunch stop. The girls had soup and salad, and Paul enjoyed French toast and eggs (gotta' love breakfast anytime of the day). Everything was so delicious. Carrie picked up the tab making it extra enjoyable......thanks sweetie! We highly recommend this place anytime of the day.

black walnut cafe inside

We did one more thing on our Treasures of Houston tour. Check back tomorrow for the rest of the story.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

12 comments:

  1. Think he was doing more than drinking beer to be that creative...just saying

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  2. Wow! That's A LOT of beer. Love the painted RR cars...nice place to visit, wouldn't want to live there. LOL

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  3. how funky, how cool, wished we knew about it while we were in College Station...

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  4. Exploring the areas we are in is half the fun. You really found some great ones. The pink lady is a gas! We recently saw a bottle cabin. A lot of work goes into those unique places we visit.

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  5. I don't thimk I would want to live next to the beer can guy...lol Where are you off to next?

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  6. Thanks for the tour, too bad we did not find out about it while in the area.

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  7. Strange looking places. I always wonder about folks who do these strange kinds of things like a beer can house. Kinda weird.

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  8. With the wine purchase in the Hill Country and now the Beer Can House I'm sure you have some decorating ideas for the house when you get back to Ohio.

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  9. We have GOT to see this! Some people are just so creative. It just prods my imagination to see creative work.

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  10. We're making a list of things we missed the last time we were in Houston. Thanks for sharing!

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  11. That's one way of recycling cans and bottles ;-)))

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  12. Very intriguing but would not like to live next to either of these buildings. :)

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