Pictures from the 2018 Weird Homes Tour of the KGA Loft.

The energy, fun, inspiration and excitement were felt by all those that attended……

Houston Weird Homes Tour
October 6, 2018
Dakota Lofts

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Weird Homes Tour recruiting homes for 2018 tour

Winking hippos, a C3PO-like metallic mannequin, outlandish art and over-the-top murals have all won over judges at the annual Weird Homes Tour. The next tour is set for Oct. 6, and organizers are recruiting homes and homeowners for the next lineup.

The home tour that celebrates eccentric personalities and sometimes odd decor began in Austin in 2014 when organizers Chelle and David J. Neff wanted to play tribute to the inherent weirdness in that city. It spread to Houston in 2016, and now is also in New Orleans, Detroit and Portland. It’s also the subject of a new coffee table book, “Weird Homes: The People and Places That keep Austin Strangely Wonderful” (Skyhorse Publishing; $16.99).

To be considered to be one of the eight to 10 homes chosen for the tour, you have to be willing to let hundreds of complete strangers traipse through your home, but you’ll also get professional photos of your home, a little publicity and, of course, bragging rights about the degree of your own weirdness.

Past tour homes include Kelly Gale Amen’s art-filled loft downtown, Selia Qynn’s garden-rich Spring Branch home and Sue Shefman’s “Hippolotofus” home, filled with hundreds of hippos as well as an art car that can wink at you (via remote control).

The tour will be 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 6 and tickets are $30-$55. Apply to be part of the tour at www.weirdhomestour.com.

Check out the Weird Homes Tour and #GetCaughtWithYourPantsDown!

“We seek two things from our buildings. We want them to shelter us. And we want them to speak to us – to speak to us of whatever we find important and need to be reminded of.” – Alan De Botton.

Kelly Gale Amen has been an influential and eccentric designer and participant in the Houston arts & design community since 1974. His work has been described as shocking and deliciously enchanting and we can’t think of a better way to describe his downtown urban loft as well.

It’s a home that is filled with the juxtaposition of extremes that just seem to fit perfectly together. Amen’s home is humorous, dark, sentimental, eclectic, and erotic. Contemporary sculptures sit next to tribal artifacts. A child’s portrait of his pet Dalmatian, “Fire Hydrant”, sits next to a renaissance style religious oil painting.  The home is filled with the unique furniture he designed and they sit next to a photo of his furniture, on fire. You can see his furniture anywhere from the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences to the Oklahoma State Capital to the Cosmonauts Museum of Moscow.

Kelly also a cancer survivor and the founder of the nonprofit, Cancer Below the Belt, which seeks to spread awareness and screening of the “Dirty Dozen” through humor.  You can find information and photos about the CBB in the building lobby and don’t be surprised if you are asked to #GetCaughtWithYourPantsDown!

And you can only see his amazing home on the Weird Homes Tour by buying a ticket.

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