If four walls and a white picket fence feel a little too pedestrian, how about a dwelling that defies the laws of physics? From mind-bending houses that seem to float in mid-air to precarious properties that cantilever over cliff edges, these incredible gravity-defying homes are tearing up the rulebook on residential design. Click or scroll on and prepare to be amazed...
In March 2022, this mesmerising modern mansion hit the real estate market for a cool $15.5 million (£12.4m). Situated on almost 300 acres in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, the property was constructed in 2014 by two art historians, in collaboration with award-winning American architect Tom Kundig, acclaimed British landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith, and a local master builder.
With cantilevered decks and entire walls of glass that open mechanically, the house offers a one-of-a-kind aesthetic and a cool indoor-outdoor floorplan. Plus, thanks to the home’s elevated position, the gorgeous glass house allows for unobstructed vistas across the Berkshire Hills and Taconic Mountains. The exterior material palette of concrete, glass, wood and structural steel continues inside, creating a sleek contemporary look with an industrial edge.
Spanning 4,273 square feet, the property is constructed around a central fireplace, which acts as the centrepiece of the open-plan living area. Inside, there’s a music room, a beautiful kitchen, a butler's pantry, a living room, dining room, sound-proof office and three bedrooms. On the ground floor, you'll find a double-height entryway, a heated garage, a mudroom, wine closet and laundry room, while the master bedroom benefits from wall-to-wall glass that frames the stunning scenery.
Positioned a stone's throw from the pristine sands of Roches Beach on the Australian island of Tasmania, this incredible property is what dream homes are made of. Completed in 2017, it was designed and built by builder Andrew Lyden and his wife Lee-Anne, who spent a few years planning the waterside home before they began their self-build project. They even demolished the original house to make way for their one-of-a-kind creation.
The couple wanted to create a home that not only exemplified perfection in its design and construction, but would also catch the eye of property-lovers as they strolled along the beach behind the house. At the front, the home’s upper volume cantilevers out above the driveway creating an ingenious carport, while a timber-lined entryway with a timber staircase leads up to the first floor. Inside, there’s another cantilevered room floating above the outdoor entertainment area which reflects the design at the front.
The 3,014-square-foot residence has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a state-of-the-art kitchen and a chic lounge that opens onto a balcony. The living spaces are located on the first floor to maximise views of the scenery. Outside, there’s a swimming pool, a shower, a second kitchen and a sliding gate that provides direct access to the sand. The beautiful beach house hit the market in August 2021 and sold a few weeks later for just less than AUD$2.2 million, or $1.5 million (£1.2m).
Perched on a hilltop in the town of Atherton, California, this vast family home is nothing short of spectacular. The work of Stanley Saitowitz | Natoma Architects, multiple cantilevered storeys jut out from its sleek modern structure, with the elevated volumes capturing breathtaking views of the distant San Francisco skyline.
Designed as two overlapping L structures, overhangs, courtyards and intersecting spaces define the architecture of the three-storey residence. The beautiful basement features large open living rooms and informal family areas, while the storey above is reserved for formal entertaining, as well as accommodating the kitchen and dining zones.
Swathes of glass span entire lengths of the property and illuminate the interior, while carefully positioned skylights channel light into dark corners. Upstairs, the top level houses the bedrooms, with the L-shaped wing cantilevering out across the northern and eastern aspects. A complex collection of geometries, this incredible home is nothing short of an architectural marvel.
Bold and daring, Lauriston House was designed in response to the property’s rural surroundings. Cantilevering over the uneven terrain, the stunning Australian home seems to glide above its site near Kyneton, Victoria, barely grazing the ground. Built in 2016, the most wow-factor feature has to be the undulating roof, which reflects the surrounding hills.
Designed by Seeley Architects and photographed by Peter Hyatt, floor-to-rafter glass walls and clever lighting create the illusion of an effortlessly floating roof, unmoored from the main residence. Stretching a vast 4,090 square feet, the exterior of the property is made from steel, while warm wooden cladding on the underside of the roof reflects the light.
Inside, the roof is no less spectacular. In this stunning living room, the curved structure takes on the appearance of a canopy rippling in the wind, drawing views of the treetops inside. It’s not all style over substance though – a sleek and streamlined wood-burner ensures the home remains warm and cosy in the cooler months, while a courtyard to the east offers the perfect spot to soak up the summer sun.
Set in the middle of the English countryside, the eye-popping Balancing Barn, designed by architecture practice MVRDV, is anything but a traditional agricultural structure. A far cry from farmyard, the modern barn has a distinctly modern twist with its reflective metal cladding and invisible support system.
In a cleverly engineered optical illusion, half of the building appears to dangle off the steep slope, floating above the grassy verge below. For those with a head for heights, there’s even a swing attached to the underside of the cantilever. This gravity-defying design is made possible thanks to the building’s strong, concrete core and the use of denser materials in the section that rests on the ground – a pretty ingenious balancing act.
The outside of the magnificent mirrored home is covered in reflective metal sheeting, while the inside features large windows set into the walls, ceiling and floor, offering dizzying views of the hillside below. Elsewhere there are four bedrooms, each with their own bathroom, along with a kitchen, living room and dining room, plus a hidden staircase that gives access to the garden.
Located on the edge of the Toronto Cedarvale Ravine in a residential neighbourhood, this next property certainly isn’t a cookie-cutter suburban home. Built in 2011, Drew Mandel Architects designed the structure to make the most of the available space in the tight plot. A black zinc-clad volume bisects the main stone structure and floats above the garden, adding an additional living space while freeing up valuable square footage below for a lap pool.
Encompassing 3,250 square feet, the home’s accommodation is arranged around an inner courtyard. A bridge offers access to a living roof that contains a vegetable garden where the family grow produce, while trees and foliage have been planted in the garden – all done to support the local conservation authority’s efforts to renaturalise the land around the ravine.
From the ground floor living room, the cantilever looks especially impressive, hovering above the reflective pool like a mirage. The volume’s black cladding extends inside, framing the contemporary kitchen and dining space and creating a visual connection between indoors and out.
Talk about a cliffhanging home! With 180-degree views of Fairhaven Beach in Australia, the Pole House sits 131-feet above ground, seemingly floating in mid-air supported by steel stilts and accessed via a 76-foot-long walkway.
It's one of the most recognisable houses on the Great Ocean Road and draws photographers and architecture fans in to admire its gravity-defying beauty. With one bedroom and one bathroom, which have incredible views of 30 miles of stunning coastline, it's the perfect vacation home.
It was originally designed and built in the 1970s by architect Frank Dixon and still holds a lot of retro appeal, with curved walls of wooden cladding and a futuristic suspended firepit. The building had fallen into disrepair but was beautifully restored by Franco Fiorentini from F2 Architecture. A few modern touches were added, like the glass balustrade and retractable glass walls, to make this a gorgeous marriage of old and new.
Designed by architecture firm Atelier Andy Carson, the four-bedroom house appears to float on the headland, which also contains pastures, paddocks and sheds for the dairy cows that roam the hill. Swathes of glass line the interior of the home’s cantilevered volumes – the perfect vantage point to soak up the breathtaking vistas.
Sheltering a tranquil swimming pool and a terrace, the incredible central courtyard at the heart of the property is no less impressive, creating a private oasis to relax and unwind. Elsewhere, a covered outdoor passage connects the stylish open-plan living spaces to the bedroom wing, balancing the need for privacy with an airy, sociable layout. The property also offers a guest cottage, clad in the same corrugated black metal as the main home.
Tucked away in the residential area of Murcia in Spain, this incredible concrete home has to be seen to be believed. Its two elements are stacked on top of one another and rotated to an improbable 35-degree angle. An ingenious design, the fascinating property is located in an area that's expected to become extremely built-up in the near future.
With the location’s impending development in mind, Clavel Arquitectos set about creating a home that would offer incredible views of the nearby mountains both now and in the years to come. Thanks to its clever cantilevered structure, which juts out an enormous 32 feet, those stunning rural vistas are safeguarded for the homeowners.
The bottom block is home to the living spaces, with swathes of windows offering views out across the garden and the pool. The upper block contains the bedrooms, with the volume also providing welcome shade for the pool area. A characterful touch, the rugged concrete façade stands in pleasing contrast to the elegant finish of the interiors.
Nestled in northern Queensland’s tropical rainforests, this has to be one of the most futuristic homes we’ve seen yet. At first glance, Stamp House appears to float on the surface of a lake. In fact, the otherworldly structure cantilevers out from the shoreline thanks to an innovative and complex design by Charles Wright Architects.
Built for a stamp collector, the amazing concrete home features an indented façade that resembles its namesake. Not just an aesthetic choice, the cantilevered structure was chosen to withstand the powerful cyclones that often sweep through the region, reducing the chances of flooding by elevating the home off of the ground.
Functioning completely off-grid, the home’s interior is an impressive geometry of concrete beams, with a living area, kitchen and dining zone framed beneath a vaulted ceiling. Leading off from the main communal space, the bedrooms are located in private wings, while a swimming pool sits in an open courtyard at the heart of the home. Talk about wow-factor!
Located near Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic Yodoko Guest House in Hyōgo Prefecture, this concrete property, designed by T-Square Design Associates, features a dramatic overhang clad in wood. Shrouded in trees for privacy, the cantilevered volume acts as a shelter for the homeowner’s car, while making the most of the snug, awkwardly-shaped plot.
Sitting between two rivers, the innovative home looks to nature for its air conditioning. The breeze from the water flows through the interior thanks to ingenious sliding louvre panels fitted across the property’s façade. Drawing the outside in, whole walls of the home can be opened up, blurring the line between indoors and out.
Inside, the unusual dwelling is awash with natural materials, from wooden beams to stone floors and cladding, reflecting the home’s connection with the great outdoors. Cantilevering out from the main house, the living room sits nestled amongst the tree canopy, while a narrow deck runs around the perimeter of the property. We can’t imagine a more idyllic spot to watch the sunset.
This is one home that isn’t short of wow-factor. From a distance, Hill House, which is found in Melbourne’s northern suburbs, looks like a long black volume balanced on a verdant hill. In fact, an innovative family home lies hidden from the world beneath the seemingly grassy incline.
Oriented north, the property and its garden were once doomed to darkness all year round. To remedy this, Austin Maynard Architects built a new structure facing the sun in what was once the backyard. In response to the increasing number of high-rise builds in Melbourne, often with little or no outdoor areas, the home’s green space was extended up onto its walls.
Nestled in Denmark’s Holmsland Dunes, the aptly-named Dune House, which is still under construction, is destined to turn heads. Designed by Studio Viktor Sørless for a client in search of a cinematic home, the breathtaking property is elevated off the ground, cantilevering over the coastal landscape from a single narrow base.
With nothing but rugged dunes as far as the eye can see, the contemporary retreat enjoys uninterrupted views of the wilderness. Inspired by the Roman Polanski film The Ghost Writer, the architectural gem comprises a cross-shaped structure, with swathes of glazing lining the longest wing of the property.
In the living room, the seamless floor-to-ceiling windows are the real stars of the show, drawing the stunning vistas inside to merge with the home’s sleek minimalist interior. The central column of the property will accommodate a lift and gallery, while the other three segments of the upper storey will house a dining room, bedrooms and a kitchen.
As far as optical illusion houses go, this jaw-dropping design surely takes the crown. Jutting out of a rugged coastline, the home’s three concrete volumes seem to balance precariously on top of each other, as though one jolt would send them all tumbling to the ground.
Suspended above the rocky shore below, this exquisite render was created by Shanghai and Vancouver-based architect and architectural photographer Amey Kandalgoankar for an unconventional site in Lanzarote. Beneath the floating storeys, a flight of stairs is carved into the cliffside, leading to the glistening blue-green water below.
The innovative design draws on huge swathes of glass, blurring the line between the living spaces and the breathtaking views beyond. Fenced balconies are situated on top of the volumes to catch the sun as it shifts throughout the day, while the elevation of the pool, raised up above the rocks, looks out across the sea, creating the illusion of a single stretch of tranquil water.
Futuristic and truly mind-bending, this pad in the Australian town of Casuarina, New South Wales, is one of the most surreal homes we've ever seen. Blending design excellence with innovative engineering and modern functionality, the property was named after the iconic American animated sitcom The Jetsons, which followed a family living in the gravity-defying Skypad Apartments. Defined by its geometric shapes and bold use of glass, the home is unlike anything you might have seen before.
The 5,403-square-foot house was strategically positioned on its long, narrow plot, and was designed and constructed to maximise all 190 feet of beach frontage while retaining plenty of privacy. While the lower level sits neatly on the ground, the top level, which weighs 80 tonnes, cantilevers out at 45 degrees, giving the impression that it’s floating in mid-air. Outside, the home boasts white curving walls and custom horizontal windows, while the interior is modern, open-plan and inviting.
There’s a bright living room, a dining zone, a modern kitchen, five bedrooms and three bathrooms. Every room has a minimalist aesthetic, with raw concrete floors, soaring white walls and dark cabinetry, alongside expanses of glass and sheer black curtains. Outside, there’s a soccer pitch, an in-ground trampoline, an alfresco entertaining terrace, an outdoor shower, a heated lap pool that sits under the overhang and gated beach access. It doesn't get much better than that!
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