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NARRATOR: There are extreme homes all over the world,
and we're taking you inside some of them
for a personal tour.
The word "extreme" means different things
to different people,
but to these homeowners,
it means dreaming, daring, and innovating.
From construction to completion,
we'll take a close-up look at these spectacular homes
to find out just what makes each of them so extreme.
This home is inspired by a traditional fence.
This one uses concrete blocks as a design feature.
We'll show you a home where city and nature meet
and an L.A. home built around its art collection.
Exciting shapes, exceptional sizes,
and exotic locations --
These are some of the coolest homes around.
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
East Hampton, New York, is known for big celebrity names
and for luxury homes,
but not this home,
and it was built that way on purpose.
It's called Bioscleave House,
and its unique design is quickly becoming a trend.
Live here and you might live longer.
Bioscleave is the brainchild of architect Arakawa
and his wife, Madeline Gins.
The house took nine long years to complete.
It consists of only four rooms
arranged around an open living space,
and every aspect of the design
is intended to keep you on your toes.
The architects believe that living an inactive lifestyle
shortens your life,
so they designed the interior of this home
to have a challenging layout,
intended to keep anyone living here young and vibrant.
Each aspect of design acts as a stimulant.
A variety of colors on the walls create the sensation
of being in multiple places at once.
The windows are placed at unconventional heights
and in random locations to keep the mind alert.
Even the light switches and outlets
are set at odd angles
so you have to stretch to reach them.
The floor undulates around the house like waves.
The sculpted concrete surface is topped with hand-formed bumps
to add traction and toughen up feet.
Here and there, brightly painted steel poles
provide something to grab on to in case you lose your balance.
The idea is, if you focus and walk on this floor,
it will keep you agile and alert.
The architects also claim that constantly using your body
to maintain equilibrium
helps to stimulate the immune system
for better health.
The kitchen area and dining-room table
are set low and at the center of the house.
Their shape mimics the skylight above,
a shape that appears seven times within the house.
Around the kitchen are the house's four other rooms --
two bedrooms, a bathroom,
and an open space to use as you choose.
And you'll need to leave your privacy at the front door,
because once inside this house, there are no doors.
This house is off-limits to children,
and adults are asked to sign a waiver when they enter.
But if the inventive design does its job,
this home will keep you forever young.
[ Birds chirping ]
For over 30 years,
Toshiko Yoshida lived happily above her tobacco shop
in Kishiwada, Japan.
Then one day, she received an order to vacate.
The city was building a new public path,
and her shop was in the way.
It meant she might lose her business and her home.
Lucky for Toshiko,
one of her regular customers was an architect.
[ Speaking Japanese ]
INTERPRETER: I asked the client what she was going to do,
and she said that her plot of land
was going to be reduced to a quarter of the size
and that she didn't know what to do.
I got a strong sense the client didn't want to leave this place,
which was filled with precious memories
of the life she started here with her husband 30 years ago.
I wanted to do all I could to help her stay here.
NARRATOR: The city's order to vacate
meant Toshiko would lose 3/4 of her land,
leaving an oddly shaped 258-square-foot triangle --
tiny for a home, too small for both a home and a shop.
So, Toshiko gave up the shop
and bought three vending machines instead for income.
But she had to install the machines
on her now-tiny property.
All she had left was a mere 167-square-foot wedge.
Despite the limitations,
architect Hideshi Abe took on the job
to build Toshiko a brand-new three-story home
on that spot.
[ Speaking Japanese ]
INTERPRETER: The owner wanted the ground floor
to be the daily living area,
so I had to design the bath, toilet, and kitchen
as compactly as possible.
NARRATOR: Once the walls and staircase were built,
the available space on each floor
was about 10x13 feet.
Toshiko wanted very few windows, both for privacy
and to minimize the noise of the nearby trains.
The outside may look small,
but inside it feels bigger,
with a spiral staircase in one corner.
On the first floor,
there's a combined living and bedroom space,
complete with Shinto shrine.
[ Bell ringing ]
Toshiko's favorite space is on the top floor --
a mini roof garden where she sits in the sun,
grows vegetables, and watches the world go by.
Yes, the house may be tiny, but it has allowed Toshiko
to remain in the neighborhood she loves.
Next up, a unique home where everything --
walls, ceilings, and even windows --
is made entirely out of concrete blocks.
NARRATOR: We're back with more "Extreme Homes."
Our next home is in Seattle, Washington.
It was designed by iconic American architect
Frank Lloyd Wright
in 1955
and commissioned by Bill and Elizabeth Tracy,
both architecture enthusiasts and admirers of Wright's work.
The house is one of only three homes Wright built in the state
and overlooks Puget Sound.
The flat, single-story modular building is low-lying.
All the horizontal lines
come from concrete blocks left exposed
and stacked on top of each other.
Narrow windows are set high up under a long, flat roof.
Unlike other houses nearby, it doesn't sit squarely on the lot.
Wright liked to think creatively about the relationship
of the building to its site, its contours,
the site's relationship to the sun and the views,
and also gave significant thought to privacy.
So, this building is actually twisted quite significantly
on the plot plan
so that when you drive up,
the carport is sort of off to the side.
It's not the first thing that draws your attention.
NARRATOR: Wright was a master of space,
using different levels to change perceptions of height and width.
The experience of coming from the driveway
and up this series of steps
begins to allow you to focus on the change in height.
The horizontals disappear and the vertical is compressed.
NARRATOR: The porch features Wright's signature red tile,
his mark of authenticity.
The house was built using the Usonian Automatic system --
that's a concrete masonry building system
devised by Wright --
and he believed that owners
should take part in the construction.
So, the Tracys hand-cast all 1,700 concrete blocks
in 11 different shapes.
However, constructing the whole house was too much for them,
so they found a local contractor who'd built his own Wright house
to finish up.
WOODIN: Each block has a hemicylindrical void at each edge.
When you put two blocks together,
it creates a cylindrical void
through which the rebar is placed
and then the grouting is poured in after the fact.
NARRATOR: What looks like tiled flooring is actually colored concrete.
A red pigment was applied to the concrete while wet
so that it would soak in and give it a leathery look.
The technique is used both inside and out.
The house is designed on a grid,
another feature of Wright's Usonian system.
The space is largely an open plan
with few doors or partitions between rooms.
At just 1,150 square feet, the house is compact,
but the changes in ceiling height
create a feeling of something much bigger.
Once inside the entrance,
you step straight into the living area.
Both furniture and lighting are custom-designed
to complement the space.
And the room shares a large fireplace
with the adjacent dining area.
WOODIN: The fireplace in this house
is fairly typical of the period
in that he liked to have them open on two sides
so that you could see it from various angles
and, again, the horizontal floating line
of the bottom of the hood of the fireplace.
NARRATOR: Off the living and dining area
is the work space, as Wright called the kitchen.
It's compact with high ceilings,
and owner Elizabeth Tracy had one specific requirement.
WOODIN: Because they had this magnificent waterfront property,
she specifically said,
"I'm the person who's spending the time in the kitchen,
and I want to have my kitchen right on the view to the water."
So, as opposed to some people thought
that Wright was often dictatorial
about how things should be,
he was quite the opposite.
If you told him clearly what you wanted,
he was very happy to provide for that need or want.
NARRATOR: The original stove looks vintage,
but it works perfectly.
From the kitchen,
you step into a corridor leading to the bedrooms.
Ceilings here are low and the rooms small,
with long, horizontal windows.
The polished, warm redwood walls
make it feel almost like a yacht.
WOODIN: The door to this bedroom is particularly unique
in that it's a corner door.
It has an interesting appearance to it
simply because of the way it closes.
It's the widest interior doorway in the house.
NARRATOR: The same kind of door is also used
between the dining room and the outdoor patio.
WOODIN: Here we have an opposite reflection of it,
where the door opens to the exterior
and it's made full height of glass.
It's a dramatic view looking from the outside corner
back to the inside
and creates a very dramatic open corner.
NARRATOR: The Tracy house is a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece.
It's a part of architectural history, a family home,
and, to this day, an American classic.
There's a home in Provence, Southern France,
that's become the owner's personal work of art.
It's in the center of the historic village
of Pont de l'Etoile.
The 150-year-old house stands at the end of an old bridge
and used to be the village bakery.
But since artist Danielle Jacqui has lived here,
she's turned it into a showcase for her work.
The facade of the house is about 850 square feet
and completely covered with Danielle's painted ceramics
and mosaics.
In fact, since she moved here 30 years ago,
she's decorated the front of her house
not once but four times,
each time giving it a completely new appearance.
The style is called l'art singulier
and is meant to be unconventional and surprising.
It's bright, energetic, and full of strange creatures.
JACQUI: [ Speaking French ]
INTERPRETER: I have held exhibitions,
but I've really centered my attention on my house.
It's the place where I live. I sleep here, eat here.
This is where I spend my private time.
When you look at the house,
you see that I can't bear emptiness.
It always has to be full and lived-in.
NARRATOR: Danielle has covered every wall
with paint and varnish
and filled every room with her art.
Although she's also an antique dealer,
everything except the furniture she's made herself.
Downstairs, there's a big Provencal kitchen.
It's chockfull of ceramic figures and bright paintings.
Her office is the same --
Intriguing forms and sparkling colors
lift the darkness of the room
with its traditional wooden ceiling.
In the back is a workshop and storeroom
with more of her ceramics and embroidery.
INTERPRETER: It's a woman's house,
and consequently,
I've allowed myself to exert my power on the place
in order to do exactly what I want to do with it.
NARRATOR: The stairs are painted
with lines from Danielle's poetry.
Upstairs, there's a bedroom she also uses as a studio
and a small, wildly decorated bathroom.
This is where she writes her poems.
This home, inside and out, is a very personal work of art.
[ Speaking French ]
INTERPRETER: I work without a break.
I am multidimensional.
I mean, I have no boundaries.
It's the house of an artist. This is my home.
NARRATOR: We head next to a Swedish home
whose owners love living on the edge.
NARRATOR: We've seen a house treated as a blank canvas
by its artist owner,
a Japanese home whose owner was forced to adapt upward,
a home designed to keep its residents eternally young,
and an American classic built entirely out of concrete blocks.
Our next home is 25 miles outside of Stockholm, Sweden,
on the island Ekero on the Malaren Archipelago.
This single-story, concrete-and-glass structure
sits on the very edge of a high rock face
out over the waterline far below.
It's a beautiful spot with spectacular views
and panoramas up and down the lake.
Owners Frederick and Frank Alfvan
live here all year 'round now with their two cats,
but this isn't their first house on this site.
The original was a typical Swedish wooden vacation home --
great in the summer but not so much in the winter.
Strong, cold winds off the lake kept them inside.
Outside was no fun at all.
But they wanted to live here full-time
and be able to entertain friends,
so they decided to tear down the house and replace it
with something bigger and more suited to the location.
Lead architect on the project was Hakan Widjedal.
The couple saw his work in a magazine and called him.
WIDJEDAL: And you can see, really, how the house meets the rock.
The concrete goes all the way down to the rock
so that the house
and the different levels in the house
adapt sort of to the structure of the rock.
NARRATOR: What Widjedal did was design a structure
four times the size
of the original 430-square-foot house
that merged with the rocky ledge.
By extending the front of the structure
out over the edge of the rock
and anchoring the back into the slope,
he managed to fit the new 1,937-square-foot home
onto the small site.
It took two months to design and a year and a half to build.
This summer house
was a traditional, small Swedish house
with a pitched roof,
and it had a traditional problem --
The people that built it
placed it on the best part of the property,
and this is just a small shelf that we're standing on.
So, in this old house,
there was really no space around the house
that they could use,
so our challenge was really to build a house
that was four times as big
and free more space -- outdoor space to be used.
NARRATOR: Once the original house was demolished
and the site prepared,
steel rods were drilled into the rock
and concrete slabs were poured.
Reinforced concrete was used for the walls,
which are mostly left bare.
Styrofoam was used for insulating the external walls
and then covered with plasterboard.
Floor-to-ceiling glass windows filled with insulating argon gas
and coated with a metal film
were fitted into aluminum frames.
The roof was laid on top of beams made of thick plywood.
The ceiling is lined with meranti,
a Malaysian dark red wood.
Seven coats of boat varnish gave it a high sheen,
which catches the light off the lake.
It sounds straightforward
but the steep, narrow site was a challenge.
WIDJEDAL: One challenge was, of course,
that you can't move around the house
because it's just a vertical drop-off, pretty much.
These glass panes right here -- They weigh 350 kilos each,
and they had to be lifted
from the other side of the house over.
And as you can see, we have the roof cantilevering out
to block the sun.
This had to be done before the roof was built.
NARRATOR: The house is open-plan
with no formal doors between rooms.
The glass windows slide open to let in the summer air.
In winter, temperatures drop to minus-25,
and the lake often freezes over.
Underfloor heating and a number of open fires
keep things warm and cozy.
Access to the house is from the rear,
and the roof is the first thing you see.
Hakan describes it as the fifth facade.
It's mostly flat, with a few skylights
to allow in additional daylight.
When you enter, you're immediately in the dining room.
Go to the right, down a few steps,
and you're in the living room with the lake at your feet.
WIDJEDAL: Here we walked down to the living room,
and this is, of course, where you get the best view.
Up to here, we're in contact with the rock,
and from here, the house sticks out,
so the floor and the roof hang sort of out over the slope.
And it's dramatic 'cause it's 40 meters
from the waterline
and it's 90 meters above the waterline,
so it's quite a slope.
NARRATOR: Up a couple of steps to a TV den
which leads to the bedroom.
There's a bathroom filled with beautiful light
and polished hardwood.
On the other end of the house is the kitchen.
The brief was to make a real minimalist kitchen,
so nothing should be seen.
So this black coffin that we have here
is actually the kitchen bench with the stove
and the sink over there.
You can walk through the kitchen
without really knowing that you were in the kitchen.
NARRATOR: Beyond the kitchen is the conservatory.
Outside, there's a concrete veranda
and steps that lead down to the lake.
So, the old summer house was transformed.
Now it's ideal for living year-round
and perfect for entertaining.
WIDJEDAL: Of course, the site is very dramatic,
and sitting in the living room
and just watching the scenery is --
I mean, you can do that forever.
But what I really like in the house
is that you have all these different places
with different atmospheres.
You can always find a place that fits your mood.
NARRATOR: The architects of this brick house
in Buenos Aires, Argentina,
had such respect for the materials they used,
they created a home in the shape of a pile of bricks.
Casa MYP is named after its owners --
Manuel and Paula --
and sits off one corner of a golf course.
City planners in this Buenos Aires suburb
restrict the building materials
to a choice between bricks or white stucco.
So the architects chose a traditional type of brick
and created a design to look like a stack of those bricks,
scaled up.
We decided very early in the process
to use brick in this house.
The brick -- It's from an area in Argentina called Chacabuco.
It's a handmade brick made out of earth.
The whole process is handmade.
And it's a very, very good brick because it breathes very well
and it works very well with our climate.
NARRATOR: The variation in color and shape of these handmade bricks
gives the walls an instant aged look.
In all, 23,000 bricks were used in the construction.
Well, we have this very important wall
inside the house
that goes from the garden in through the terrace,
inside the living room,
and then it surrounds the entrance of the atrium,
which gives continuity
between the inner space and the outer space.
NARRATOR: And everything is in perfect proportion.
One giant brick shape stands on top of another,
and the one on the very top turns 90 degrees
to create an "L" shape,
with another "L"-shaped wall at the opposite end
extending out and around.
The entire house measures just over 3,500 square feet.
Large retractable glass doors
separate the outside terrace from the living room.
This allows easy access between the two spaces all year round.
But keeping direct sunlight out of the main living space
was important.
We tried to avoid direct sunlight
because sun here in South America
is very strong and damages the furniture
and changes the color of the floorings
and the furniture, as well.
NARRATOR: So, they created a high, windowless atrium
which allows indirect sunlight into the room
through small, boxlike skylights.
What we did was try to use this upper room
that we created, this upper, empty room,
as a rebound box -- a white rebound box --
for this light.
Then, as we separated the ground floor
from the upper floor with this longitudinal window,
then we let all the light inside in a regular way.
NARRATOR: A staircase separates the open-plan living room
from the dining area.
Some brick walls are left exposed,
others are plastered and painted white for contrast.
The staircase is made of incense wood,
and the floors are clear granite, both inside and out.
The more private rooms are upstairs --
three bedrooms with bathrooms.
The master bedroom overlooks the golf course and the courtyard.
Being able to step straight out onto the course
is great for the owners, who are keen golfers.
Even the swimming pool is in the shape of a brick.
Here, the architects combine traditional materials
with contemporary design.
The result is a timeless home
and a sure defense against the powerful South American sun.
Next up, we head to South Africa
to visit a home with a split personality.
NARRATOR: We're back on our tour
of the world's most extreme homes.
In a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa,
there's a kind of urban tree house perched on a cliff.
This is Lulu Kati Kati,
a Swahili word that means "Pearl in the Middle."
It sits between a busy street on one side
and a nature reserve on the other.
A pearl of a home set between two very different worlds --
And this house has a split personality.
In front, it reveals its pink-on-metal face
to the street.
And in the back, a virtual wall of glass
looks out onto the hilly nature reserve.
Architect/owner Kate Otten
wanted to build a home for her family
on the narrow, steeply sloping site,
and the sharp incline wasn't the only challenge.
OTTEN: So, the site itself
has a very steep rock face on the one side
and, on the other side,
this fantastic 85-, probably 90-year-old by now dombeya tree,
which is an indigenous pear tree.
And the building is
kind of slipped in between these two natural stretches.
NARRATOR: To anchor the house into the slope,
Kate built up and into the cliff.
The lower level is made of brick and cement
and rests on quartzite rock.
The upper two floors -- the tree house part --
are built on six massive eucalyptus tree trunks.
These weigh half a ton each and measure 31 feet in length.
Steel collars attach the frame of the top floors
to the tree poles.
They're strong enough to support concrete floors
and big glass windows on each level.
South African pine lines the walls.
Floors on the lower level are bare concrete
with some of the natural rock showing through.
Upstairs, Kate covered the slabs
with reclaimed parquet teak flooring.
The more than 100 windows facing the reserve in the back
vary in size.
Views are obviously very important,
but the view is not treated as a huge panel of glass
but rather as kind of framed views
or a variety of views.
NARRATOR: You get into a house by a bridge over a pond,
then through a garden of native trees and shrubs,
like bougainvillea.
The entry is on the second level,
where you'll find the dining and living areas
and the kitchen.
There's a large steel balcony with a great view
that runs around one side of the floor.
A single staircase runs from the top
to the bottom of the house,
creating a kind of thermal chimney.
It helps with air circulation
and allows warm air to rise through the house in winter.
On the lowest level, you'll find the main bathroom.
There's also another living space.
It's now being used as a bedroom,
but Kate designed it to be multipurpose.
A large terrace on this level
leads to the base of the giant dombeya tree
which shelters the back of the house
from the hot African sun.
With the tree such a dominant feature of the house,
the connection to nature feels immediate.
OTTEN: It's also spectacular
in how you're right in the middle of a tree,
so your bird life is fantastic.
NARRATOR: This unusual house with the dual personality
successfully straddles both environments --
the urban and the natural.
It's a home that satisfies in so many ways.
Now we're heading to New Zealand
to a home inspired by its rocky landscape.
NARRATOR: We're back with more "Extreme Homes."
We head to Queenstown, New Zealand, now
to a steep, heavily wooded lot for our next home,
just a five-minute drive from the city's center.
This simple black metal box
appears to grow up out of the slope.
Architect Stacey Farrell took inspiration
from the landscape itself.
New Zealand is a young country, so the rock forms are pushed up,
and everywhere, you'll see jagged rock faces,
and nothing is quite straight and true and vertical,
so it is interesting to reflect the New Zealand landscape.
I wasn't scared of the slope.
It's quite rare to have a flat --
completely flat -- section
anywhere in New Zealand, in my experience,
so I wanted to reflect the slope of the site,
in that I've nestled the house back into that
and then pushed it out.
NARRATOR: Instead of compensating for the steep slope,
the design of the house appears to accentuate it.
FARRELL: To give the house a strength of form,
that cladding is on the angle of the house.
So, all of those windows
I've actually fitted into the module of the ribs,
so they are extremely small
and, of course, the ribs are on the slope,
so all the windows are on the slope.
NARRATOR: She chose black
so that the house would complement the silver birch
and poplar trees
and picked a green paint to match the foliage
and mimic the moss around the house.
FARRELL: The house is clad with two different materials.
Basically, the outer shell -- I've used COLORSTEEL,
which is quite an old-fashioned profile,
probably from the '70s.
Then anything that is cut in from that outside form
we've used plywood.
NARRATOR: Once the site was cleared and the foundations laid,
concrete slab and masonry were used for the garages,
with timber frame and plasterboard
for the retaining walls above.
Plywood flooring was laid on top of the cement floors.
Once the roof was on,
the metal cladding was fitted to the exterior,
along with the painted plywood.
Work took about nine months in total.
Measuring just under 13 feet wide,
the entire house is just 228 square feet.
I was very conscious of building what we need, not what we want.
I challenged the norms of what I normally design
and squeezed things down smaller and smaller,
so this is a small house.
NARRATOR: There's a garage at ground level
with a two-story living space above.
This is stage one of a bigger, more ambitious project.
It may be small, but it's functional,
with every square foot accounted for.
It has a galley kitchen and pantry under the stairs
and sliding doors to turn the main living room
into a meeting room,
with the doors doubling as blackboards.
The living area leads out onto a small patio
with the bedroom, bathroom,
and small study on the upper level.
FARRELL: As you go up the stairs,
you start to see that the stair window
is on the same slope,
so you start to have reveals as you move through the house.
NARRATOR: Stacey built the house to live in with her partner
and was eager to take risks with the design,
such as trying out a rough exterior rust paint
in the bathroom
instead of tiles.
FARRELL: I was able to do things that --
When I'm spending my client's money,
they don't want to take the risk,
and I absolutely respect that.
So, we took risks on a small scale,
and it's actually paid off.
NARRATOR: This small, tailor-made house jutting out from the slope
suits the couple just fine.
We're really happy living here. The light is fantastic.
Living amongst the trees is great.
And when a few more of our perimeter trees get bigger,
we'll have fantastic privacy, as well.
NARRATOR: Now we're heading to Los Angeles
to meet the homeowners who built an entire new wing
just to house their art collection.
NARRATOR: We're back on our tour
of some of the most extreme homes in the world.
Our next home, in Los Angeles, California,
is an art-lover's dream.
What started out as a 1950s California ranch house
has now become something more like an art gallery.
This old house has a new wing --
a modern, angular addition with interior walls
built deliberately to hang and display artwork.
It's as though an entire art gallery
has been bolted onto the old house.
Julie and Fred Reisz live here
with their two children and dog, Chewie.
FRED: If you look up here,
this is the new addition that we had built
when my wife decided the house wasn't big enough.
And I was completely against the idea of building more,
but she knew what to say.
She said, "Think about all the extra wall space
we'll have to hang the art."
NARRATOR: The original three-bedroom house
was designed by American modernist architect
Edward Fickett.
Over the years, the Reiszes collected so much art
that they simply ran out of wall space in the house.
So, they commissioned local architects
Austin Kelly and Monika Hafelfinger
to build a new wing
with plenty of room for their collection.
The couple knew what they wanted, up to a point.
In addition to more gallery space, Fred wanted a study.
One of the smartest things we did
was tell the architects functionally what we wanted
and inspirationally what we wanted.
My wife gave me the best piece of advice
that she gave me with regard to this new addition.
She said, "After you're through telling them what you want,
butt out, leave them alone, and let them do what they want."
And because I followed that advice,
we now have this magnificent house.
NARRATOR: The new wing sits above a former two-car garage
that's now a carport.
The building has 20-foot cantilevers in both directions
so it seems to float in midair.
The new wing took just under a year to complete.
The structure is made of diagonal steel-braced frames
supporting concrete or glass walls.
The glass has a protective U.V. film
which shields the art from sun damage
and keeps the house cool in the summer.
The building flows seamlessly from one part to the other,
and the white walls are perfect
for displaying colorful works of art.
Mahogany flooring in the original house
turns to quartzite pebble in the new addition.
An open staircase made of custom steel
leads up to the new wing,
where there's a large playroom filled with light
and a uniquely shaped study.
These rooms show off the triangular steel structure,
a technique that's normally used for road and rail bridges.
This is the structural element of the house.
Usually these are hidden behind walls.
But the architect encouraged us to have it left exposed,
and I'm so glad we did.
NARRATOR: Fred and Julie are avid collectors.
They particularly like art from New York and L.A.
One local artist, Kevin Appel, has since become a friend
after they met at an opening.
FRED: When we got the piece,
it was especially nice that the artist came
and hung it with me.
So, this is one of the most special pieces
in the house to me.
Now this piece here is the one
that everybody wants to know about.
This is by an artist named Evan Holloway,
another Los Angeles artist.
It's from a series called 0-100.
The piece that we have is number 60.
NARRATOR: The new wing has not only given the family more space
to house its art --
It's become a work of art itself.
When you look out, you realize, "Am I in a tree house?
Am I in an office? I'm kind of in L.A."
And that's what the house says to me.
This is my L.A. house.
NARRATOR: We're heading to the beachside suburb
of St. Kilda, Melbourne, Australia.
This neighborhood is famous, even notorious, for one thing --
the Pamela Anderson house.
The front of this house is a 30x30-foot close-up
of the Hollywood celebrity.
A model, actress, and animal-rights activist,
Anderson found TV fame on "Baywatch"
and went on to become one of the biggest TV stars
of the '90s,
with millions of fans around the globe.
But this must be one of the more unusual tributes
to the Canadian actress.
It's certainly caused controversy
ever since it was commissioned by an Australian footballer.
Despite initial opposition from the planning authorities,
the home went on to win an architectural award.
Anderson's image was applied directly
onto a cement sheet wall
and then covered with laminated glass.
With many celebrities,
there's a private side behind the public face.
It's the same here.
Behind this giant portrait sits a glamorous, modern,
three-story, three-bedroom home.
A double garage opens at the front.
There's a bedroom at ground level,
and up one flight of stairs is the living room,
which is situated next to the dining and kitchen area.
White walls add to the open feel of the contemporary design.
A large stainless-steel kitchen worktop divides the space.
Floor-to-ceiling windows
open up onto a narrow patio and lap pool,
squeezed in between this and the adjacent property.
Perforated-steel stairs
with a balustrade made of tensioned steel wire
lead up to the second floor,
where double-height ceilings add to the sense of light.
There's a master bedroom on this level,
with a wall of opaque glass behind it,
concealing the master en suite.
Windows run from end to end.
The entire space measures 2,500 square feet.
The glass facade is cement-backed,
so you can't see out and no one can see in.
The owner describes it as a home built more for a couple
or for entertaining rather than for a family.
He's made a number of changes
to make it more practical and functional.
For example, he stripped back the white floors
to the concrete underneath
and added sheets of perspex to the perforated-steel stairs
to prevent heels getting caught.
This is a home for anyone wanting a touch of Hollywood
and who's not afraid to stand out in a crowd.
Next, we check out an Austrian home
with a fence that's more like a giant sculpture.
NARRATOR: Welcome back to "Extreme Homes."
This is the town of Gmunden in upper Austria,
and our next home looks like a cross between a steel cocoon
and an extravagant fence.
This structure is inspired by the jaegerzaun,
a crisscross wooden fence commonly found in Austria,
but in this case, metal slats have been used instead of wood.
This is the last thing you'd expect to see
in this landscape of mountains and lakes.
It's more space-age shield than rustic fence.
The structure is the brainchild
of Viennese architects Heribert Wolfmayr
and his partner Josef Saller.
Wolfmayr describes it as an oversized pergola.
[ Speaking German ]
INTERPRETER: When I first got here, everything was green.
There was a lawn.
There were trees and bushes -- very tall trees.
And our task was to redesign this space,
not with green but with architecture.
NARRATOR: The owners, the Zeitners,
wanted to maintain their privacy
but keep the view of Lake Traunsee.
What they got looks like a giant sculpture
and encloses the pool on three sides,
with a built-in seating area at one end
and the house at the other,
with steps leading up to the second floor.
Wolfmayr says the goal
was to create a feeling of protection and security.
[ Speaking German ]
INTERPRETER: We tried to convey this
by following this massive fence
along the border of the property,
to shape it, to create a kind of cocoon
which closes in a spiral at the end and forms a unity.
NARRATOR: Some 500 steel plates of different sizes
were used in the construction of the fence.
The entire structure stands 16 feet tall,
weighs 15 tons,
and measures just under 100 feet long
by 65 1/2 feet wide.
The main supports in the frame
are made of solid, welded flat steel profiles,
with circular tube profiles running diagonally
onto which the flat strips
of weather-resistant, coated steel were then attached.
Some of the structure arrived preassembled.
The rest was pieced together on site.
The Zeitners were so happy with their fence,
they commissioned the architects
to remodel the front of their three-story home, too.
They erected a walkable frame to the front,
onto which they attached perforated metal plates,
which can be moved electronically to provide shade
or let in light.
Once inside, you step straight into a living space,
with warm cherry wood floors and minimalist furnishings.
Off to one side is the kitchen,
centered on a handsome granite table.
Giant planters stand in the corners of the room.
Above the dining table,
there's an original steel and Plexiglas sculpture
suspended from the floor above, also designed by the duo.
[ Speaking German ]
INTERPRETER: I'm standing here next to -- Let's call it an object.
On this upper floor, it has the function of a banister.
At the bottom of the house,
it works as an oversized light installation
or an oversized chandelier.
NARRATOR: The stairs are made of a stainless-steel alloy.
The mesh theme is continued on the balustrades,
which are made of steel netting
like that used on the steps leading up from the pool area.
The home offers unbeatable views of the lake from all floors.
And over to one side,
the sweeping metal fence adds a unique and striking look
to this 21st-century home.
We've seen homes of all shapes and sizes
in locations around the world,
from a Swedish house perched above a lake
to a home in Japan squeezed upwards
by encroaching development,
a house in New Zealand that's inspired by its geology,
an Australian ode to a TV star,
and a piece of American architectural history.
But all of these houses have something in common.
To their owners, they're simply home, sweet home.
Thanks for watching "Extreme Homes."