SEEN IN THE PRESS

Weird Homes

Vancouver Sun newspaper

That's the premise behind Weird Homes, a light-hearted television documentary produced in B.C. that takes viewers into some of North America's most unusual homes.

In its premier season last year, Weird Homes visited a beer-can house in Texas, a house made of screws in Ontario and a 'pirate's den' in B.C. decorated top to bottom in a nautical theme.
 
Among this year's quirky homes are a castle on Cortes Island, a house in Radium Hotsprings that has goats living on the roof and a home in Ontario built as a shrine to Elvis Presley.

Inspiration for the series, hosted by well-known broadcaster Arthur Black, is credited to author Jim Christy, who travelled North America looking for quirky homes to include in his book Strange Sites -- Uncommon Homes & Gardens.

'It actually makes you feel kind of humble, and not very creative sometimes, when you look at what other people do when they are uninhibited,' says producer Mike Collier, of Yaletown Entertainment Group in Vancouver. 'There's a real expression of individuality in these places.'

At the same time, Collier says, it's the eccentric homeowners who really carry the show. 'The home is an expression of them. We put as much emphasis on the people as we do on the home.'

Weird Homes, which is broadcast on the Life network, recently won a Gemini Award for Best Lifestyle Series at the Canadian Cinema and Television Awards in Toronto -- an honour Collier says is rarely given to a program in its first year. It must have helped that 200,000 viewers across Canada tune in each week, making the show the highest rated Canadian series on the Life network.

* Most houses featured on Weird Homes are in rural areas, where building codes are often less restrictive. B.C. is a good source, along with Ontario, Quebec and parts of the United States.

'There are certain pockets where these people seem to prevail,' Collier says. 'There are some areas in the United States -- like Wisconsin and Texas -- where they have virtually no building codes and there's a real sense of independence. Some of these people do some really wild things.'

One of his favourite eccentrics is the 'button king' -- an insomniac who stays up all night sewing buttons on things. 'He's got buttons all over his house, and button clothes. Even a button hearse, covered with thousands of buttons, and a button-covered coffin inside, which he hopes to be buried in.'

Next week, viewers will be treated to an all-BC show featuring a a couple who live in a floating home in Tofino, a man who lives in a dry-docked former ferry and an artist who lives on Finn Slough in Richmond.

In BC, you can see Weird Homes on the Life network on Wednesdays and Sundays at 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. (Pacific). It also airs Fridays at 8 p.m.

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