This massive melon is a recreation of a similar gate from the Pan-American Expo.

A beautifully designed asylum was resurrected as a hotel and art center with a ghost story or two.

Ruins of a once-prized railroad station in New York.

Buffalo's abandoned concrete grain elevators are getting a second life.

The seat of Buffalo government is a gorgeous Art Deco palace.

A Scottish manor with a history of mysterious fires, magic, and eccentric tales

The perfectly preserved underground rooms where Churchill plotted the war against Germany.

Where Aleister Crowley taught magick in "La Chambre Des Cauchemars," his "Chamber of Nightmares."

Since 1887, this old-school shop has stacked its shelves with extraordinary coffees and teas.

Fittingly, America's museum of architecture is itself a magnificently designed old building.

Once a favorite playground for the world's most illustrious guests, Hotel Nacional's secret weapons and bunkers reveal a more menacing side to its golden history.

With over 100 jam-packed rooms to explore plus elaborate tea services and events, the Mansion on O Street is a hidden treasure.

The site of the climactic scene from the classic horror film is now a historic landmark.

One critic described it as "middle Mussolini, early Ramses, and late Neiman-Marcus." Another called it an architectural "natural disaster."

An ear-piercing buzzer calls lawmakers to a vote with a series of long and short rings to form coded messages.

Members of Congress have traveled between the buildings on Capitol Hill for a century hidden from tourists, press, and storm clouds.

A little marble compass above George Washington's (empty) tomb in the Capitol marks where D.C.'s four quadrants intersect.

Rumor has it the uncarved lump behind the three famous suffragists is reserved for the first woman president.

The first purpose-built art gallery in the United States is once again open as a center of craft arts.

Home to items never before seen by the public.

Hidden on a cobblestone street in Glasgow, a Czech Cajovna-inspired teahouse serves as a hangout for Bohemians.

The medieval woodcut-style artwork chronicles life in medieval London.

A monument to the thrice mayor of London who according to lore made his fortune by selling his rat-chasing cat.

One of the few remaining casualties of the London Blitz, this destroyed church has become an enchanting public garden.