Owning a home is a dream for many—if not most!—of us. Renting is fine and dandy and can work for some people, sure, but there’s something truly solid about having a place to call your own. However, not every property is built the same… literally! Some houses and apartments are beyond bizarre; they're utterly unhinged and would make practically any decent architect and interior designer do a double-take.
Today, we’re looking at some of the weirdest and most confusing home listings that were found on Zillow by Jonathan Carson, a digital creator and the cohost of the Camp Counselors Podcast. Scroll down for a good laugh and a reminder that just because a property is on sale doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily worth the money!
Bored Panda has gotten in touch with Carson via email, and we’ll update the article once we hear back from him.
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Maxwell House? Or Maxwell Home?
I've never been to jail, but I'm pretty sure it would feel like this!
is there any insulation? when it rains, how loud is it inside? When it hails? Do they have a lot of thunderstorms in the area where this house is? I actually like the interior photos but it doesn't seem practical at all
I wonder the same thing about skylights, like doesn’t rain (and hail!) make it deafening? While I’ve had skylights before, they were angled so they weren’t pelted and besides, this was in the desert where we didn’t get a lotta weather.
Load More Replies...I would live here. But the heating/cooling cost must be crazy. Also, is there always an echo?
That would be a concern for sure. Also the heating/cooling requirements.
Load More Replies...Interior walls are finished. So likely a spray foam insulation, or some blown type.
Load More Replies...I like it but wouldn’t living in a large tin can being incomparably hot.
This Zen Cottage Has Enough Serenity And Wood To Go Around
I had to look it up and it's in British Columbia (Canada). It's sold but if you want to see more pictures (and they're gorgeous) here's a link to an estate agent's site: https://www.royallepage.ca/en/property/british-columbia/oak-bay/752-monterey-ave/23529585/mls981235/
Some of it is nice, some of it is interesting. I cannot believe the giant totem and the huge glass counter didn’t make it in these pics.
Load More Replies...The interior photos looks like quite a few boats I’ve been on. The interior photos really do belong to the shown house? I could be *very* cozy there, even though it’s not my style. The bathtub’s making me thirsty for a Moscow mule, though!
For 2 million bucks I feel a little cramped.
Load More Replies...It Puts The “Home” In Funeral Home
With a different interior decorator, this place could be really nice. Got good bones lol.
I know the person that bought and renovated this home. It truly is a reflection of their style and personality.
Thanks for making the caption understandable.
Load More Replies...Is that a scythe hanging in the kitchen? Is this where Death actually lives? What are all those surgical devices handing in what looks more like a barber shop???
As per Statista, the average sales price of new homes in the United States was $512,200 in 2024, down slightly from a peak of $521,500 back in 2022. There are a few main factors behind the massive growth in property prices over the past few years: Increased demand during the pandemic and previously low mortgage rates spiked prices. However, now there’s an issue with rising mortgage rates and decreased affordability, leading to a market that’s slowing down.
According to the Housing Affordability Index in 2023, the median-income US family could no longer afford a median-priced home. Statista notes that despite the recent cooling of the market, it may recover in the coming years. It’s likely that “affordability challenges may persist in the near future.”
A Pink Paradise
Nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, and diarrhea!
The Rapunzel Suite?! Please!
Are those cobblestone floors? I have enough trouble walking on regular floors, so that's a no for me.
Yes, I don’t care for this. It looks like a theme restaurant (minus the bed).
Load More Replies...Looks like a refurbished dungeon. Is there a dragon in the basement?
Nothing says medieval like hideous casino-style wall-to-wall carpet!
You See A Gas Station. I See A Home
Is it just the house or the land too? Because without barriers around it won’t people think it’s okay to park their cars there?
You have to go outside to get to you toilet? That still appears to be open to the outside? Nuh uh.
There is a gas station/car garage I am dying to purchase and reno. I think about it every day when I drive by.
Guarantee the gas tanks are still under the concrete lot. No way those were removed and the canopy over where the gas pumps used to be was left intact. That is an EPA violation.
Depending on where you live, the tanks can be left in place as long as they are fully emptied and completely filled with sand/gravel. There was a station for sale when I was a real estate agent and that's what the municipal inspectors told the buyers.
Load More Replies...Never ever buy a gas station. The super fund at least within the US, can come in and say that a gas leak to occurred 40 years ago was your responsibility to clean up. You could be responsible for tens of millions of dollars in cleanup fees because you're the current owner of the land even though you weren't the owner when the leak occurred. I wouldn't even want the liability of owning the land next to the gas station.
Our countryside gas station was sold and is now a monastry with six monks in white robes.
Statista reports that the real estate market in the United States is expected to reach a jaw-dropping $136.62 trillion (that’s ‘trillion’ with a ‘t,’ yes) by 2025, and a whopping $155.60 trillion by 2029. There’s been a particular surge in demand for suburban homes due to the shift toward remote work.
With homes so expensive these days, it’s no wonder that many people and families decide to rent. However, if you live alone, you may be paying a massive premium for this luxury depending on the city.
CNN states that the average single person living in New York City pays around $20,100 extra in rent per year. Meanwhile, couples living in one-bedroom apartments in NYC save an average of $40,200 on rent per year.
An Indoor Pool Has Never Been So Frightening
I'm seeing torture chamber a la Martin Vanger in Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, not swimming pool.
The outside is quite lovely. The inside, though, was apparently done by Interior Nightmares, Inc.
What I Would Give To Have A Cocktail And Lobster Tail In That Outdoor Diningroom
It suuure does look as if they kinda hoard stuff and then shoehorn it everywhere it’ll fit. I love to sleep in smallish spaces; I feel comforted and protected. This bedroom, though, would make even me feel claustrophobic, what with all the dust catchers over my head that could potentially fall and bury me, and there’s, what? About six inches clearance in each side? While I’m very, VERY underweight, I’m still pretty sure that if I needed to escape in the dark that I’d be trapped and would die from terror!
Load More Replies...I look at the bedroom ceiling and immediately think of how dusty those are going to get…
Now That’s What I Call A Man Cave!
I literally starting singing that and then scrolled down to your comment!
Load More Replies...Wow this is just so terrible. Love the folding metal desk chair in the $4 million home though.
I can live with the rocks. I'm not sure I can live with the tiles and/or carpet.
It must be a joy to keep spiders from living in all those stone crevices.
The bare room with the sofa looks like a cigar bar I usually frequent. Well, the bar with most of the furniture removed, but still, my point is that it looks like a commercial establishment and not a *home*. And people put these insane price tags on these monstrosities! I have a feeling some of these places have depressed home prices in their areas.
Like how the office is all business...and the rest is all animal bear cave...accountant maybe?
When you’re competing against so many other properties, you have to look for ways to stand out from the crowd. The go-to approach is to take high-quality photos with good lighting, from great angles, in order to make the home shine and pop in customers’ digital feeds.
Meanwhile, the home itself can be a source of originality if it has unusual features or a particularly peculiar design. Though this can be a bit of a double-edged sword because homes that are too quirky might push some prospective clients away while simultaneously pulling others in.
Find Me In The Arcade Breaking Records On Ddr
For $6M I don’t want to be able to reach out and touch the neighboring houses!
With a wide angle lens that makes them look extra long and steep.
Load More Replies...There Is So Much Wood
Yeah, it looks like it's ready for a layer of insulation and drywall.
Load More Replies...It's a design element. I've seen homes like this before, and there actually IS insulation. The interior beams and studs you see, are just 'window dressing' and don't actually provide any kind of structural component. Behind the unpainted OSB (particle board), there's the actual structural elements and insulation.
Load More Replies...Ok that's an interesting idea. Somehow insulation, electrical, and plumbing would have to be run, but someone else would have to figure that out. The look in the kitchen where the shelves are would be amazing duplicated around the house. Over time, your walls would be books and that is my dream.
Load More Replies...Either this isn't America or the walls are not as they seem. It's not even the unfinished look and lack of insulation. Building code for all stick frame residential single family homes in the US requires studs to be 16" on center for all exterior and interior load bearing walls. Most interior walls are also supposed to be 16" on center, but under a few limited conditions non load bearing interior walls can be 24" on center. Every wall visible is 24" on center. And the windows don't look deep enough to be hiding the actual correct framing and insulation behind the visible cladding.
Welcome To The Hobbit House!
It looks better inside looking out than outside looking in. Lots of light which is good.
I kind of like this one. But I don't understand why the tower interior isn't shown. Are there dark secrets?
A while back, Bored Panda covered a fabulous Zillow listing where the photos had Bigfoot going about its daily life. It went massively viral online.
“During our initial photoshoot, the Bigfoot idea popped into my mind. The sellers immediately supported the idea, and we all hoped that it would bring a bit of levity to people on their home buying adventure,” Daniel Oster, the listing agent, told us in a previous interview.
I Would Love To Have Tea And Cobbler Here
Is This Castle A Dream Or A Knightmare?
Idk. Looks like half the houses in Lake Forest or Winnetka.
Load More Replies...I do believe this is the saddest example of a castle I've ever seen.
What baffles me about so many of these is the money that goes into some elements, but then you get like the kitchen. The ceiling details and the lights above the table, super expensive. But the floor is like bargain basement clearance linoleum from the 70s, but it's in perfect shape so it's relatively new. The 2 doors are solid wood raised panel with flourish, again expensive, then super cheap builder grade carpet. And just the whole bathroom, thats the only thing that really shows age and that this may have been a badly done reno.
An Adoptable Dog In Each Room?! Hashbrown Stole My Heart
They really need to lose the pictures of the "agent". It's beyond annoying at this point.
He runs an instagram account that posts unusual houses. I’m guessing BP just took content from it to repost. I forget his name, but he’s really funny with his commentary.
Load More Replies...“A lot of folks are under a lot of stress now, and we were hoping to lighten people’s day and make them smile. At the same time, hoping to spread awareness of their home for sale. And that does indeed seem to be happening. We’ve had an overwhelming amount of interest in folks calling to schedule appointments to see the property. And, we are anticipating offers soon,” Oster told Bored Panda at the time.
Holy High Heel…
The tub is called "Audrey" and is by Italian bespoke design company SICIS Art Mosaic Factory. It starts at $17000 but can go up to $41.000 with custom finishes (that this one has not). Their primary market is the Middle East but the USA is their second market by business share, so their sweet spot is where plenty of money meets lack of taste.
The shoe bathtub has got to go, but I'll take the rest of the house!
This House Makes Me Feel Dizzy And Broke
This is what happens when you go back to plans you had crumpled up and thrown away.
Who Needs A Garage When You’ve Got A House Like This?
Uninsulated garage door. No heating or air conditioning unit seen. It's cheap, but to upgrade into a true liveable home, you would need money before moving in.
No heating? Did you miss the huge wood stove?
Load More Replies...There's potential here. Slap on some solar panels to power the very-desperately-needed heating and AC, and this could really work.
It's called a 'barn house'. They're actually surprisingly comfortable. Given the designs, they're also shockingly easy to both heat, and cool. That one wooden stove you see is more than enough to heat the entire building, while a single window air conditioner in the right place, would be enough to cool it. These types of homes are becoming very popular now, as you can build one for as little as 9000 dollars US.
That's a good point. I just noticed that the exterior siding is vertical, and the interior siding is horizontal. Presumably there's something other than just framing between them.
Load More Replies...According to the listing agent, high-end photography and targeted marketing approaches usually work.
However, the right combination of the property, the timing, and the Bigfoot idea helped the listing go viral. “I don’t anticipate doing this approach again because it could be overused. But it’s been a great success so far, and I love getting to use a bit of humor to market the property.”
I Would Love To Stop By For A Visit
I could do without all the overlaid pics of the doofus dude in the ball cap.
Lol! With the pink house I first thought "why do they have a picture of that man attached to the toilet?" Soo that's how awake and alert I am.
Load More Replies...One must assume an elevator (lift for the continental types) or quads of steel.
The View Is A Great, I’m Sure
Anyone Want To Buy This Lodge With Me? I Have Ideas
The bathroom is giving public shower at the ymca of the beach vibes. Such a waste of space. And the rest is awful too.
Not too bad, but get rid of the animal trophies before move-in day Wheelchair accessible shower is a plus
Digital creator Carson has quite an online following. He boasts 488k fans on Instagram, 532.8k followers and 21.4 million likes on TikTok, as well as 65k followers on Facebook. Moreover, 19k internet users subscribe to his YouTube channel. Additionally, Carson cohosts the Camp Counselors Podcast together with Zachariah Porter.
Zillow is an American tech real-estate marketplace that has been around since 2006. It employed just under 7k people in 2024, and it brought in revenue worth $2.24 billion that same year. In short, the company provides information and services related to the selling, buying, renting, and financing of property. And like any super popular online marketplace, it features its fair share of bizarre listings.
At This Airport Home, We Don’t Have A Fence. We Have A Gate
It looks like a community for homeowners that own their private little planes. I think there’s one in Florida if I recall correctly. They all share the runway.
We have a neighborhood like that close to our house as well.
Load More Replies...There is a community like this about a mile from my house. Except the homes don't seem as big / expensive as this. There is a private runway and many of the homes have a hanger for a small plane. But it's not scheduled flights like a public airport and I think it is quiet much of the time.
Am I The Only One Who Likes This Renovated Bank Or Am I A Loan?
May not have a choice in the matter. Looks to be a relatively old structure, which could mean it's on a historic places registry. If that's the case, you're forbidden from making major structural or internal changes to the building. It varies by regulation, but a person can face fines that could theoretically bankrupt them 10,000 dollars and up, if they change any part of the internal structure of the building without prior approval. Which if a building is on a historic registry, you can bet you'll get inspectors coming around at random times to check and make certain that you're not removing historic aspects of the building.
Load More Replies...No front yard to take care of. That's a plus. But the people coming to the door to get money ...
I would totally live in the bank! Those wooden counters = excellent craft studio!
They missed the chance to use that teller counter as the basis for their kitchen, and instead put a tiny crappy generic on in a back room. And yeah, they should have taken down that painting.
Imagine Watching The Cat In The Hat (2003) In That Movie Theater Room
All the wood (and the wild paint choices) are a bit much. And it seems overpriced.
You can photoshop any sky or ceiling you want in that room with that prepainted green screen.
Which of these Zillow listings caught your eye the most? Which ones did you love to hate the most? Were there any homes that you genuinely wouldn’t mind living in?
What does your dream home look like and how much would it cost to buy or rent? We can’t wait to hear your thoughts, so if you have a moment, share yours in the comments.
What A Whacky Spooky Bouncy Home!
How is this spooky or even wacky? With the exception of the trampoline which is more Bonkers than anything, that living room and kitchen are so plain, dated and boring 🤷🏻♀️
I always think how to maintain everything clean. Most are an absolute nightmare to clean... On the other side, when Theres enough Money to buy such houses, you can hire ten cleaners
Every single post came from Jonathan Carson's Instagram account. He posts videos showing these weird houses. His commenting video is embedded in the originals. Just click the link under each post for the full videos and you'll see how it works.
Load More Replies...If you think these homes are expensive, I live in Westwood Village CA, where a second floor two bedroom unit just over a thousand square feet in my building, just sold for $940,000!
All these have rooms that are TOO BIG !!! I prefer a home that is cozy not grandiose
The guy in photos in too many photos proved most of those homes are just pixels.
There was not one house on this list worth the money they were asking!
I always think how to maintain everything clean. Most are an absolute nightmare to clean... On the other side, when Theres enough Money to buy such houses, you can hire ten cleaners
Every single post came from Jonathan Carson's Instagram account. He posts videos showing these weird houses. His commenting video is embedded in the originals. Just click the link under each post for the full videos and you'll see how it works.
Load More Replies...If you think these homes are expensive, I live in Westwood Village CA, where a second floor two bedroom unit just over a thousand square feet in my building, just sold for $940,000!
All these have rooms that are TOO BIG !!! I prefer a home that is cozy not grandiose
The guy in photos in too many photos proved most of those homes are just pixels.
There was not one house on this list worth the money they were asking!
