Saturday, March 8, 2008

Beer can house

From 1968 until his death 20 years later, Mr. Milkovisch, an upholsterer for the Southern Pacific Railroad, not only emptied 50,000 cans or more of his favorite beverage but also put the containers to good use, cladding his house and workshop with thousands of maintenance-free flattened beer cans (Falstaff was a favorite) and shading the sun with garlands of tinkling beer can tops and tabs.

Known to generations of sidewalk gawkers as the Beer Can House, the folk art monument was dedicated Thursday and will open to the public on Saturday for the first time since its purchase from the Milkovisch family and a seven-year restoration project totaling $400,000.


A Man’s 6-Pack Can Serve as His Castle

Marilyn Oshman, the art patron who founded the Orange Show, said it was no accident Houston played host to such attractions. “One good thing about not having any zoning is you can do stuff,” Ms. Oshman said.

7 comments:

georgetheatheist said...

Looks better than any Fedders crap from Tommy Huang! This guy's beer house is true American folk art.

Anonymous said...

would make a good home for Adam Clayton Powell IV.

Anonymous said...

It seems altered beyond recognition
and doesn't meet LPC's criteria for designation.

Anonymous said...

A nice "brewskie bungalow", in my opinion!

And he was a genius at recycling.

You don't find siding material like this at Home Depot.

I love it! You are what you drink.

Anonymous said...

I love it! Looks like the inside of my house!

Anonymous said...

One good thing about not having any zoning is you can do stuff.

Seem that in these parts with zoning, is that you can do stuff your not supposed to do and get away with it.

Anonymous said...

Really??? everyone seems to love the white trash decorating of using all the beer cans you drink to clad your house. Maybe you should petition city planning to allow this into the zoning so you can change the siding on your attached homes with no yards in middle village with beer cans. Actually, dont bother... jsut paste the flat cans on your exisiting siding.

Better start drinking.