A Brazilian’s home is his sandcastle ( ) and he’s not the only one with a wacky house
AN ENGLISHMAN’S home is his castle, but in far-flung locations around the world, it may well be built from sand.
In the second series of the World’s Weirdest Homes, Channel 4’s resident architect Charlie Luxton takes us to five bizarre “castles”.
They include an actual sandcastle in Rio de Janeiro, home to a man who escaped the nearby favelas – slums – when he was just eight, after seeing a mass shooting on a street corner.
Brazilian Marcio Mizael Matolias went on to build the giant sand structure on a Rio beach more than 20 years ago and is now a “self-styled king of the castle”.
The sandcastle has intricate turrets – there are currently 40 of them – which Marcio, 44, creates by hand using the traditional methods of driftwood, sand and water.
They also get blown down and washed away, but he simply rebuilds them, “often several times a day”.
“It’s a work of real engineering and architecture,” he jokes.
But this is a long, long way from luxury living.
There are no facilities and Marcio has to use the nearby public toilets. The actual room in which he lives is less than 20 square feet and cluttered with books.
But he does make money from photographs with tourists and wears a plastic crown.
His existence is a far cry from that of mystics Ernst and Srishti Wilhelm’s at Falcon’s Nest in Prescott, Arizona, who live in the “tallest single home in the world”.
It is the same height as a 10-storey building, but the owners need to walk up 135 steps to reach “the summit”.
Luxton, right, believes it is “one of the tallest family homes on the planet”, and Srishti says: “You can see 120 miles into the distance.”
Ernst adds: “You can bungee jump from the top. That’s kind of good because you can leap off here if there’s a fire on one of the lower levels!”
The main living area at Falcon’s Nest is 2,400 square feet of space, but there are some downsides.
It can take cleaners two days to wash all 304 windows using a special, 50ft brush, because they are so high up.
And residents living nearby are also far from happy with the building.
As a result the town has now changed its planning laws so a tall structure such as that can never again be built.
Tarot card readers Ernst and Srishti bought the building for just $755,000(£592,000) with an insurance payout after the couple were hit by a lorry. “We thought it was our destiny to buy it anyway,” said Ernst.
But the most extraordinary home was found in the Netherlands where Johan Huibers decided to build himself a Noah’s Ark in 2005.
The Christian fundamentalist who also describes himself as a prophet said he “wanted to save humanity from sin” and became inspired to do so in a vision.
The downsized replica of the biblical version is nearly 230ft long, 31ft wide and 42ft high. It is made of pine and cedar.
Johan has now sold it to entrepreneur Aad Peters, who has been sailing the ark around northern Europe with live animals on board, including camels, goats, alpacas and snakes.
The on-board accommodation is spartan for any human passengers.
Aad says: “It’s like camping on sea. When the wind blows, it’s cold and you find yourself under about five blankets.”
He points out: “I have a perfectly good house as well on land, but I’m stupid, you know.
“It is what it is. If you choose to do something, you have to do it.”
The most extravagant “home” is literally a private zoo in Dubai, with animals named after designer labels.
It is owned by billionaire UAE businessman Saif Ahmed Belhasa, but used primarily by his 16-year-old son, YouTube celebrity and budding entrepreneur Rashed – also known as Moneykicks.
Rashed’s “pets” have names like Versace the lion, orangutans Gucci and Dior, Armani the chimp and giraffes Fendi, Yeezy, Paris Hilton, Jackie Chan, Bert and Ernie.
The zoo home has been visited by celebrities such as Mariah Carey, Ronaldo, and Floyd Mayweather.
Rashed does not actually live in the animal enclosures – they surround his circular living room.
“I’m the only 16-year-old in the world that has a zoo,” he says, as he plays on Snapchat.
“I really like to show off.”
Rashed says his father rescues animals from other private zoos, where they have been neglected.
“It’s a private zoo. We’re not making any money from them. It’s just that my father likes it,” Rashed says.
“We look after our animals. I went to Kenya and saw a lot of lions dying because they only eat once a month, but here, after we rescue them, they eat once a day.”
World’s Weirdest Homes, Channel 4, Wednesday, 9pm.
‘I often rebuild turrets several times a day’