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(Check out our complete collection of Underwater and Oceanic Oddities.)
Ever dream of sailing off into the sunset in your very own houseboat? Some of these are dreamy but completely out of reach while others you may be able to afford but wouldn’t want for the world. This collection spans the extremes of design and brute-force ingenuity: from the obscenely luxurious to the absurdly simple.
The Trilobis 65 is a semi-submerged masterpiece of cutting-edge design and ecological engineering. These modular living spaces are designed to be plugged into a network of docks, free to roam or to aggregate as desired. Residents enter into a common space on a main floor before moving into a lower observation deck with 365-degree views of the surrounding underwater environment or private cabin spaces above.
For some a floating home is a luxury or a hobby, but for others it may soon be (or already is) an absolute necessity. Take residents of Amsterdam for example: 20% of the country is already underwater and concerns about life on land have prompted some creative designs for future living. Necessity is the mother of invention and this case is no exception with Dutch designers stepping up to the challenge of creating modern floating homes suitable to more permanent living.
The German firm of Floating Homes GMBH has developed a number of sleek models, designs and real-life prototypes that take cutting edge German architectural design out onto the water. Some of their designs look like normal residences floating on flat modernist planes in oceanic space while others seem adapted to their dual purpose of resting and as well as gliding along the surface of the water.
The Jelly-Fish 45 is arguably the most ambitious approach to marine living yet devised. At 33 feet high and 45 feet wide, this structure blows most houseboats out of the water. Like the Trilobis the Jelly-Fish submerged lower deck for dining, drinking and viewing ocean life. Of course, at $2.5 million per unit one would expect only the best. A spiral staircase joins the five stories of the floating habitat and ample windows accommodate views in all directions from all levels.
At the entire opposite end of the spectrum, these represent the ultimate in budget floating accommodations. What does one really need to live on the water after all? Just a platform and a shelter, right? Well, one simple way is to combine the two necessary elements using the cheapest and easiest objects available: a simple floating surface and a ready-made trailer or mobile home. Prefer something upscale but can’t afford to buy it? Try one of these amazing underwater and ocean-going hotels instead!
Next: 15 More Extreme Houseboats
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38 Comments
February 21st, 2008 at 7:04 am
You have to pay real estate taxes on these?
February 21st, 2008 at 8:19 am
Oh my, sign me up!!
February 21st, 2008 at 8:34 am
I love the old trailer that’s used as a houseboat. The caption says “Trailer Cruises Lake Under Own Power”. Could that be an outboard motor? hmmm.
February 21st, 2008 at 8:52 am
The second to last photo is not a houseboat but City Pier in Canandaigua, NY. Several of these cottages on poles collapsed a few yeas ago.
February 21st, 2008 at 9:00 am
A rock that floats … I love the idea and imagine it’s a real headturner.
February 21st, 2008 at 9:02 am
The picutre of the sinking houseboat shows EXACTLY the list position of my houseboat when I was a newbie on the river during my first snow. I thought I lived in Heaven that night as the big flakes fell on the water. I broiled a steak and sat down to watch the Johnny Carson show. With a snifter of Grand Marnier and a roaring fire in the fireplace I reasoned there was no better place to be in a snowstorm. Unfortunatley, as I slept through the night, the rest of the owners in the moorage where outside raking the snowpacks off their roofs. Even the walkways were getting seriously close getting overlapped at one point so I was told. When I awoke in the morning and looked out my bedroom window I thought: How did the river level get so high in just on night? Little did I realize that the weight of my waterbed, and the weight of the hot tub - both on the same quarter section of the float - plus the weight of the snowload on the roof, would sink that quarter section. Just half-awake, my first moment of panic was immediately replaced with a second moment of panic as I jumped out of bed into about fifteen inches of water, my first thought being: I’m going to get electrocuted! (I didn’t realize that the breaker had switched at the first sign of malfunction.) After climbing up to dry carpet and getting dressed, I made my way outside (sheepishly) to greet my neighbors who were high (and dry) and looking forward to getting into their own beds to catch up on some well deserved sleep. Me? I drained both the hot tub and waterbed (which restored the float to normal) and called my insurance agent. This was the first of several experiences I had to go through before I felt I was really getting my “sea legs.”
February 21st, 2008 at 9:19 am
@ digitalnomad: Not in the USA. Houseboat marinas are either publicly or privately owned and the earth underwater is governed by various federal and state regulations. The houseboats themselves are classified as personal property and may be subject to personal property taxes (depending on where you live), not real estate taxes. The moorage owner (if private) will have some real estate tax liability which, of course, would be apportioned and passed on as part of the moorage fee that each float owner pays. Some private moorage owners “sell” their “slips” to float owners but it’s not a real estate transaction in the traditional sense; it’s simply a “right to moore” that can be, in turn, sold at a profit if it’s value increases, etc. In fact, houseboat moorage slips (and related fees) have been appreciating over the years in the US as environmentalism has continued to punitively hammer at those who prefer living on the water (fish first), making it near impossible for new moorages to open, or existing moorages to expand.
February 21st, 2008 at 10:14 am
if you have a waterbed and a hot tub in a house boat you are a very brave man.
February 21st, 2008 at 10:18 am
I’d like my house to be a boat if I’ll be going someweere. If not….
It doesn’t have to fast or anything.
The german one is my favorite
February 21st, 2008 at 11:07 am
Now I know what I want to do when I retire!
February 21st, 2008 at 11:09 am
‘observation deck with 365-degree views of the surrounding underwater environment’
WOW! it must be really impressive to give you a whole extra 5 degrees of geometry.
February 21st, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Living on a houseboat (kudos to these designers) is wonderful lifestyle. Getting to the parking lot is a bit of an upleasant hike in inclement weather, but you make up for it in nice weather. You don’t really have to go anywhere to vacation because you are already there. Just open the door.
And it’s quiet. Moorages sit below land level and the noises of traffic and life on the soil amplify out an up; not over and down.
Another sea-leggy-kind of story that comes to mind is the night I awakend about 1:00 a.m to this seemingly muted, distant yelling for “help.” After a few seconds I realized it wasn’t a dream. Someone, somewhere was in distress.
I jumped into a pair of shorts and flip-flops and went outside, only to discover the lady who lived next door was in the water, nearly exhausted and hypothermic. In her sixties and retired, she and her husband liked to make the rounds of the establishments on the island. Only this night she was coming home alone, inebreiated.
There were two problems: first, it was winter and there was ice on the walkways; second, she was wearing a full-length mink coat. When she slipped on the ice and hit the water that coat just about quintupled her bodyweight and she didn’t have the muscle strenght to pull herself out.
It’s funny now, but at the time she swearingly refused to shed the coat so I could pull her to safety. It didn’t take long to realize it was a futile situation for both of us so I began yelling “help” at the top of my lungs, hoping to wake up some muscle to come to our rescue.
Help arrived, including her husband. We got her up and out. He took her inside and I went back to bed, only then realizing that I was colder than ice from being outside in freezing weather with nothing more on than a pair of bermuda shorts.
Ahh. The memories. I think I want to go back for retirement.
February 25th, 2008 at 5:09 am
I’m not sure about the 2nd to last one but hell I’d take the last.
Great post!
March 1st, 2008 at 4:16 am
Now I know what I want to do when I retire!
March 6th, 2008 at 2:21 am
Hey, the picture in the bottom is ours =) Take a look at our webpage…sorry for the swedish. For you who don´t understand the language we started in Mälaren, a lake not far from Stockholm and drove it to Göteborg. A trip that took us 5 weeks and it was about 600 kilometers.
/Perra ( http://www.husvagnsbryggbaten.tk )
March 12th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
I am considering developing a houseboat community on some property that I own in Humboldt Bay, on the coast of Northern California, and would like to talk to interested investors.
June 2nd, 2008 at 4:28 pm
im interested in archtitechal design in water habitat. im going into the 8th grade, if you send me more information i would like to do a term paper.
thanks,
-Austin
June 4th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
I’m thinking of buying one of the Historical Boathouses in Canandaigua. Anyone who knows about that COLLAPSE please fillme in. Also what are the chances (not statistically) and conditions for a similar YIKES! to occur ? Thanx, Toni
June 24th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
That floating rock one is cool. I would have painted the door gray to match the rest of the boat though. That way you could park it somewhere and perhaps people would think it was just a big rock :)
August 5th, 2008 at 7:46 am
We are always working to provide a more creative design solution for our houseboats. We have come along way since 1965, but obviuosly have much further to go. Check out our website for where we have taken houseboating.
Good job on the article.
August 5th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Sorry. Forgot the website link. http://www.stardustcruisers.com
September 29th, 2008 at 6:59 am
I think houseboats are cool. They are a great lifestyle. During my childhood my family had a canal barge, which was great fun. We had wonderful holidays and happy memories.
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