Personally, I think this sculptural home looks like a dragon, but the Airbnb description says this 70s build was a “giant seashell unicorn” which is equally magical. Designed by two architecture students, it was largely abandoned until someone bought the home in 2017 and restored it to its former glory.
Sitting among the trees in Austin, Texas, this unique “Bloomhouse” features a main bedroom, a second-floor sitting area, and a full kitchen. The interior feels much like living inside a giant coral reef! Coming in at 1100 square feet, it’s more of a “small” dwelling.
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Architecture Students’ 70s Brainchild Meticulously Restored

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
Such a wild and organic structure.

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
There’s a large outdoor patio to enjoy.

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
The home is surrounded by forest.

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
There are tables built into the wall.

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
More seating in the dining area across from this oval window.

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
The flooring looks like slices of wood, does it not?

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
Look at the amazing seashell-like fireplace.

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
You’ll find plenty of seating and a mini bar.

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
There’s a queen bed with a slider off to the patio.

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
This feels like you’re living inside a coral.

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
Even the shower is built into the wall!

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
It this the funkiest mirror you’ve ever seen?

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
Another sitting area with a sliding door.

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
A spiral staircase takes you to this second level.

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
Just look at all the curves!

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
The staircase is both trippy and magical.

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
View looking down into the living room.

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
There’s also a full kitchen!

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
The natural wood shelves match the curves of the rest of the house.

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
Look at how cool the pantry is!

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
I can’t believe they even fit a dishwasher in here.

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
There’s a stove with a neat fixture above it.

Images via Airbnb/Lodgewell
Details:
How the heck did this magnificent beast come to be? Like all the best things in Austin, it started with some hippies and a dream. See, back in the 70s, while Wooderson was wasting all his time away, two UT architecture students decided to build an escape from society that would become a monument to man and nature. Their goal was a home that would not only protect you from the elements but allow you to live in harmony with the environment. They wanted this quixotic vision to provide a place of peace and isolation, a place so far removed that for many years there was no physical address.
Then the hippie dream disappeared into the 1980’s Austin real estate boom, and there in the hills, the Bloomhouse waited. It would need just the right person who could see the home’s potential to bring this work of art back from the brink. And then the home’s fortunes shifted on a chance event. In 2017, Dave Claunch saw a real estate ad fall out of an Austin Business Journal for the Bloomhouse – a local legend he had learned about during his time as mayor. Claunch knew he had to save and preserve this one-of-a-kind place. Since buying the home, Claunch has spent over a year meticulously restoring the home with period-specific details to take it back to its original form.
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Natalie C. McKee
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Wow! This is the most exquisite home I have ever seen. Totally amazing! Absolutely gorgeous! I love it so much!
It’s like they took the design right out of my dreams. Most awesome design I have ever seen.
LOVE IT!!!!
Oh, my! It’s like an other-worldly fantasy! I would live here in a heart beat!!! It’s like Gaudi and Maloof collaborated to create their dream house! I am in awe!