Takasugi-an, Japan
This bizarre-looking structure is known as Takasugi-an, a teahouse in Nagano, Japan built out of cut-down trees jammed into the ground. To get up to the teahouse, guests must climb up one rickety ladder, remove their shoes, then climb up a second rickety ladder. Inside the teahouse is cozy and quaint, but fair warning: the structure may sway back and forth in the wind. Apparently whoever built the structure had a sense of humor, because “Takasugi-an” means “too high” in Japanese.
Sutyagin House, Russia
Beginning in 1992, the Sutyagin House was constructed over the course of 15 years by Nikolai Petrovich Sutyagin, a crime lord in Arkhangelsk, Russia. Originally the house was supposed to be just three stories, but the Sutyagin family kept adding floors until they got to 13 (without any sort of building permit or real plans, mind you), rendering it the tallest wooden house in the world. In 2008, the city authorities declared the structure a fire hazard, and it was taken down. But let’s be honest here – it’s probably better that way.