3 Bits of Strange Real Estate Trivia

People do some weird stuff with real estate.

If you say the words "real estate" around the average person who's not in the market to buy or sell -- someone with no vested interest in the topic -- there's a decent chance you'll see him stifling a yawn. When it comes to hot topics of conversation at a social gathering, real estate doesn't exactly have the same appeal as current cinema offerings or celebrity gossip. 

But not all real estate talk is staid or snore-inducing. Whether it's a personal residence or a commercial property, what people do with real estate -- from how they build it, to what they build it out of, to how they take care of it--can be downright fascinating. Don't believe me? Check out these 3 bits of strange real estate trivia, collected from the ether by your favorite Memphis real estate investing team.

1. The House that Winchester Built...and Built...and Built

What happens when a widow with a nearly unlimited budget becomes convinced that nonstop construction is the answer to warding off evil spirits? 

A **reeeeeally** cool house, that's what.

The story goes that Sarah Winchester was convinced by a spiritualist that the deaths of her infant daughter, Annie, and her husband, William Wirt Winchester (manufacturer of the Winchester repeating rifle), were caused by spirits of those who had been killed by the family's products. Supposedly, the medium told Sarah to move west and appease the spirits by building a house for them. As long as construction was ongoing, Sarah would be safe. By the time she died in 1922 of heart disease, the property boasted 160 rooms; 2,000 doors; 10,000 windows; 47 stairways, 47 fireplaces, 13 bathrooms, and six kitchens. 

Apparently, the ghosts haunting Mrs. Winchester had some seriously expensive tastes. 

2. Death Warmed Over

The words "death" and "warmth" are not generally associated with one another, for obvious reasons. However, some communities in Denmark and Sweden would beg to differ. In one of the more bizarre attempts to be environmentally friendly we've ever heard of, they are sending the excess heat generated by crematoriums to local energy companies. Sure, it would probably take some getting used to, but after you "warm up" to the fact that your toasty home is being heated as a by-product of decedent disposal, it makes a lot of sense.

After all, who says you have to let a pesky thing like death get in the way of being green? 

3. Hope Floats (And So Do Homes)

A Japanese company called Air Danshin Systems has created a kind of levitation system to protect structures from natural disasters. In the event of an earthquake, a sensor would activate a compressor to inflate a sort of giant airbag within one second. This airbag would lift and stabilize the structure until the earthquake was over, at which point it would deflate, bringing the structure gently back down onto the foundation. 

I like it when somebody pulls off a revolutionary idea that surely had innumerable engineering hurdles to overcome. I love it when said idea, at its core, sounds patently ludicrous. I'm convinced that Japan's status as a tech giant is largely due to a culture of innovation that allows for flat-out ridiculous ideas. What if that pitch had taken place in the U.S.? Wouldn't you have loved to have been there for that?

**"Okay, everybody. I think we can all agree on this: Earthquake plus house equals "bad." But picture THIS: Earthquake plus house, plus...FLOATIES! Wait...where is everybody going? Stay with me here!"**

Yeah. That kind of small-mindedness is why we still don't have flying cars.

Do you have any strange real estate trivia to share?