A deserted hodgepodge of experimental structures designed by nearby university students.

These unusual houses look like giant boats that washed ashore on a residential street.

“It's the quality” (but probably also the drive-through donut tunnel) that has attracted diners since 1968.

This stunning sea creature-shaped home blends into the landscape like a fantasy villa.

Outposts of this restaurant chain were shaped like jaunty chapeaus.

Hopeless romantics will swoon over the sweet story behind this bright and colorful home.

Cambria's most unique B&B features creative surroundings and fantastic food.

Stare out over the lagoon and beyond from this 10th-century campanile on the island where the city of Venice began.

The small peaceful island off the Venice tourist circuit is where the city began more than 1,500 years ago.

This community on a small Venetian island has taken to painting their houses in bright neon hues.

A small island less than half a mile from Venice is a forbidden island with a dark and twisted past.

Venice's "Island of the Mad."

Go inside to really appreciate this 500-year-old technological masterpiece.

As can be expected from a centuries old church built in a canal city, the undercroft of this house of worship is beautifully flooded.

This Venice bookstore has resigned itself to constant flooding by keeping its books in bathtubs and boats.

The marble facade hides a little-known medical museum with early surgical instruments and rare copies of canonical texts.

This palatial spiral staircase was so unusual the name "snail" was given to the noble family who built it.

A sinister pyramid in the Frari contains the heart of the famous neoclassical sculptor.

Storybook cottage in Beverly Hills was once the site of 1920s silent film studio, affectionately known as "The Witch's House."

This strange seaside tower got its name from a wealthy eccentric who would hide coins among its stones.

A quirky collection of figurines backdropped by city views is hidden next to a popular restaurant in the Hollywood hills.

Hollywood's most famous landmark, the "temporary" sign that has stood for decades longer than intended.

The art and history of the velvet painting are on full display in this Los Angeles museum.

America's most famous piece of self-built architecture.