Want to avoid the same old hotel every time you go on vacation? This article might just change your mindset. There are some incredible vacation homes around the world. They break the mold of traditional design, with some resembling floating spheres, others shaped like mushrooms, shoes, and even dogs. Here’s a look at ten of the most creative vacation home designs.
Mirrorcube (Harads, Sweden)
The Mirrorcube is a prime example of creative holiday home designs that balance practicality, privacy, and visual impact.
It appears to be a mirrored cube floating among the trees. If you don’t look closely, you could mistake it for air. The entire structure is clad in mirrored glass, perfectly reflecting the surrounding trees and sky.
Designed by Tham & Videgård Arkitekter, the treehouse draws inspiration from minimalism and natural reflections. A rope bridge connects it to the ground, and a hidden window on one side allows for views of the sunset deep within the forest.
Many high-end holiday home designs also utilize reflective materials to enhance the sense of space and allow for more flexible natural light entry.
Free Spirit Spheres (Vancouver Island, Canada)
Have you ever seen a capsule house suspended from a tree? Deep in the forests of Vancouver Island, Canada, you’ll find Free Spirit Spheres. The entire house is a giant, handcrafted sphere.
Designer Tom Chudleigh sought a sense of lightness, spirituality, and connection to nature. He constructed these spheres from wood and composite materials. The house gently sways with your movements or the wind from outside, as the trees sway.
This design completely breaks away from the traditional framework. It does not rely on foundations or occupy forest land. Isn’t this innovative holiday home concept very attractive?
Nautilus House (Mexico City, Mexico)
Nautilus House resembles an oversized, colorful shell. Its spiraling shape immediately prompts the question: could it actually be lived in?
The house was designed by Mexican architect Javier Senosiain, who dislikes straight lines and rules. You won’t find a single right-angled wall here. Instead, it’s filled with smooth curves. The floors undulate like hills, and the windows are stained glass. When combined with sunlight, the house becomes a vibrant, vibrant place.
This design is actually quite ambitious. It eschews traditional aesthetics and symmetry, instead drawing inspiration from the ocean and nature. The Nautilus House is undoubtedly one of the most unique creative holiday home designs. You’re not renting a house. You’re living in a work of art.
Palais Bulles (Cannes, France)
Honestly, if you first see Palais Bulles, you might mistake it for some art installation. The entire building resembles a string of pink bubbles stuck together—sometimes a dome, sometimes a bubbly pool. Even the windows are irregularly shaped.
It sits on a cliffside in Cannes, southern France, overlooking the azure Mediterranean. Its prime location offers unparalleled views.
This Bubble Palace was designed by architect Antti Lovag and took nearly 20 years to complete. He believes humans aren’t designed for straight lines and squares, so you won’t find a single straight corner here. Every space, passageway, and even the bed is soft and fluid. A house isn’t a rigid container, but one that flows with people’s movements, feelings, and emotions.
This Bubble Palace was designed by architect Antti Lovag and took nearly 20 years to complete. He believes humans aren’t designed for straight lines and squares, so you won’t find a single straight corner here. Every space, passageway, and even the bed is soft and fluid. A house isn’t a rigid container, but one that flows with people’s movements, feelings, and emotions.
Mushroom House (Perinton, New York, USA)
This house is truly a mushroom spirit’s dream. Located in the small town of Perinton, New York, the Mushroom House resembles a cluster of giant mushrooms emerging from the ground, with round caps and slender stems below.
Originally designed by architect James H. Johnson in the 1970s, it was built as a private residence for an artist couple.
Despite its dreamy exterior, the structure is anything but simple. The entire house is constructed primarily of reinforced concrete. A steel frame forms the skeleton, then layers of concrete are sprayed on top and then shaped by hand. The ceiling is dome-shaped, and the walls are curved and continuous, without noticeable breaks or corners. Light streams softly from the top and side windows.
Among many creative holiday home designs, the Mushroom House stands out for its quite stunning presence. It relies not on mirrors or technology, but rather on lines, structure, and atmosphere. It aligns well with the current trend for refined holiday home styling.
Casa do Penedo (Fafe, Portugal)
If you thought Stone Age houses like those in “The Flintstones” only existed in cartoons, you probably haven’t seen Casa do Penedo. This house is literally built directly between several massive natural boulders, tucked away on a hillside in Portugal’s Fafe Mountains.
The house was built in the early 1970s and designed by a private client, but the true architect was nature itself. Rather than forcibly altering the topography, the architects perfectly followed the shapes of the four natural boulders to construct the main structure. Even the roof, rather than a traditional pitched roof, is a direct slope of stone and concrete.
The entire structure lacks glass curtain walls or high-tech systems, yet its minimalist construction and natural materials achieve a profound blend with the surrounding mountains and forests.
Even more intriguingly, it was originally a private vacation home, but its unique design has since been widely shared online, appearing on numerous lists of holiday home design ideas. Among the many creative holiday home designs that emphasize visual impact or technological sophistication, Casa do Penedo exemplifies a radical return to simplicity.
Cube House (Rotterdam, Netherlands)
The Cube Houses are one of Rotterdam’s most famous landmarks. These yellow, tilted cubes look like giant Lego blocks haphazardly stacked by a child on an overpass, creating a strikingly bold design.
The buildings were designed by Dutch architect Piet Blom in the late 1970s. His core concept was to arrange the city’s houses like a forest, with each cube-shaped house acting as a tree, and the entire area forming an urban forest. So, each unit is actually an upward-tilted cube, placed diagonally on hexagonal columns, with a roof facing the sky and angled walls.
The interior is quite interesting. Because the house is tilted, the walls are also slanted, preventing furniture from being placed against the walls. Living here completely defies conventional living conventions.
The space is divided into three levels: the ground floor houses the entrance and kitchen, the middle floor houses the living room and living area, and the top floor houses a sleeping loft with a view of the city skyline. It exemplifies creative holiday home designs that completely break with the stereotype of squareness.
Shoe House (Hellam, Pennsylvania, USA)
This house really does look like a giant leather shoe. You may have heard the fairy tale about the old lady who lived in a shoe when you were a child.
In the small town of Hellam, Pennsylvania, USA, the Shoe House looks like a vintage men’s leather shoe that has been magnified dozens of times, right down to the lace holes and heel.
Built in 1948, it was funded by Mahlon Haines, a creative local shoemaker. His idea was straightforward: to create a house in the shape of a shoe, both for advertising and to allow ordinary people to stay for a few nights for free to experience life there. Originally, the house was a reward vacation home given to outstanding employees.
The Shoe House is constructed of a concrete and steel frame, with a faux leather-like paint applied to closely replicate the texture and color of real leather shoes. The house spans approximately five floors, and the interior is intriguingly divided. The toe of the shoe is the living room, the lacing area is the bedroom, and the heel contains the kitchen and bathroom.
Dog Bark Park Inn (Cottonwood, Idaho, USA)
This is truly a place where dogs can live—Dog Bark Park Inn, a bed and breakfast built entirely in the image of a beagle, is located in the small town of Cottonwood, Idaho. The house resembles a giant brown and white hound standing in the grass, with a simple expression and floppy ears.
This unique house was designed and built by Dennis and Frances Sullivan, a married couple of folk artists. Originally, woodcarvers, specialized in carving dogs. They decided to take sculpture to the next level, transforming their entire house into a dog—one you can actually live in.
The master bedroom is inside the dog’s belly, the bathroom is located between its hind legs, and access is via stairs that lead from the dog’s side, creating a truly unique experience. The interior has a distinctly country-house feel, with the walls covered in hand-carved dog heads, and the bed linens, cushions, and curtains also feature dog motifs.
This house has become one of Idaho’s most outrageous and endearing landmarks, attracting countless tourists each year just to snap a photo of themselves spending a night with the dogs.
UFO House (Sanjhih, Taiwan)
The UFO Houses resemble rows of orange-red flying saucers parked on Earth. Originally developed around 1978 from the Futuro House concept by Finnish designer Matti Suuronen, they were imported and adapted by Taiwanese developers.
Located on the Sanzhi coast, they were originally intended to be developed into a luxury oceanfront resort. However, due to financial difficulties, the project was abandoned, leaving the site as a curious half-ruin, half-artistic landmark.
The UFO houses are constructed from fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP). Lightweight, corrosion-resistant, and flexible in shape, they are well-suited for curved exteriors. They are modular structures that are transported to the site for assembly. While they may look like toys, they are highly resistant to wind, moisture, and salt spray, making them particularly suitable for coastal areas.
Most of the UFO houses here are abandoned, but some have been renovated and restored by artists and photographers into exhibition spaces or small guesthouses.
Create a Sophisticated Holiday Home Styling with a Glitzcamp Tent
After seeing so many unique holiday homes, have you ever considered that a tent can also be quite stylish? Glitzcamp’s sailing glamping tent resembles a ship with sails deployed.
The streamlined structure, like a sailboat, stands against the wind. Whether set up by the sea, on the grasslands, or at the foot of a mountain, it instantly captures attention. It transcends the notion of a temporary tent and becomes more of a lightweight vacation home designed for long-term use. Among the creative holiday home designs that prioritize style and experience, it offers a flexible and practical option.
Stable, Windproof, and Waterproof Structure: Utilizing a high-strength aluminum alloy frame and water-resistant tarpaulin, it’s corrosion-resistant and rain- and snow-resistant.
Easy to Set up and Flexible to Dismantle: The modular design allows for quick installation in various terrains, making it suitable for seasonal or mobile operations.
Long Service Life and Low Maintenance: The durable metal construction is UV-resistant and fade-resistant, making it suitable for long-term outdoor use.
Compared to traditional wooden cabins or brick-and-concrete structures, these tents are significantly lighter. For those seeking a unique campsite or personalized vacation experience, sailing glamping tents offer both stylish and practical options. Good design doesn’t necessarily have to be made of concrete and steel.
Conclusion
These unique vacation rentals, from mirrored treehouses to mushroom houses and saucer tents, each redefine the living experience. They blend nature, design, and functionality to create a more immersive holiday experience.
Looking to create your own unique campsite or personalized accommodation? Glitzcamp’s high-end camping products, especially their sailing glamping tents, are both stylish and practical. For the perfect creative holiday home design, start with Glitzcamp!
