When Houston resident John Milkovisch began lining his home with aluminum beer cans, he never meant for the residence to become one of the city’s most famed quirky attractions.
But to this day, what’s become known as the Beer Can House is a popular sight to see for those traveling through this Texas city.
According to Ripley’s Believe It or Not, more than 50,000 cans are part of the home, acting as both decoration and practical fixtures. It all started in 1968, when the retired Milkovisch decided to add aluminum siding to his house by saving up empty beer cans, flattening them into panels and sticking them to the walls. Milkovisch continued to redecorate the house with beer cans, bottles and caps for nearly two decades, ultimately creating fences, a mailbox and garlands, all from recycled beer containers.
Milkovisch thought of his work as a pastime rather than an art installation, but according to the venue’s website, he did enjoy the reactions his home would get from passersby. He was once quoted as saying, “It tickles me to watch people screech to a halt. They get embarrassed. Sometimes they drive around the block a couple of times. Later they come back with a car-load of friends.”
After Milkovisch passed away in the late 1980s, his wife, Mary, continued to welcome visitors to the house until the early 2000s. It was then that the aluminum-embedded home was purchased by the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art.
The restoration effort is ongoing, since the local climate tends to eat away at the aluminum. Volunteers from across the country have come to the home to ensure it continues to embody Milkovisch’s vision, and even though the restoration continues, the Beer Can House is open to the public for guided and self-guided tours during the summer months. For a $5 admission fee, you can see Milkovisch’s creations for yourself and marvel at the kind of larger-than-life art that recycling can create.
Want to learn more about this quirky travel find? Check out the Beer Can House website.
(All images: David Brown/Beer Can House)
