Yes, There’s an Upside Down House in Colombia – And We Have a Lot of Questions
This article was originally published in February 2022.
It’s not everyday you see something so uncanny that it makes you doubt reality itself — like finding out back in the day that Lindsay Lohan played both roles in “The Parent Trap,” or finally coming into contact with family ancestors your abuelita says may or may not roam your house every time she lights her velas.
Well, there’s a newly-constructed house in Guatavita, Colombia that makes us feel like we’re living in the world of realismo mágico, and we had to get to the bottom of it.
Designed by Austrian architect Fritz Schall, who has lived in Colombia for 22 years, “La Casa Loca” is causing a stir throughout the country and the world at large.
Schall sat down with Telemundo to talk about his near-magical feat, explaining that he got inspired to design an upside-down house after seeing one in Austria while on a trip there. “When you go in, we say ‘please, stay still’… you may feel vertigo… fatigue… a weird sensation.”
It’s easy to see why: the house sits on the tip of the roof, with the driveway up above featuring an upside down car. An architectural mind game, the house also tilts five degrees to the left and five degrees to the back — this confuses the mind even more, making you feel like you’re floating.
Inside, the house is just as surreal, filled with rooms with beds, chairs, and tables all hanging from the roof. Everything is upside down, including the kitchen cabinets, stairs, toilets, coat hangers, mirrors, and the dining table.
To stay the “wrong” way around, the house is made of an iron-clad metal structure that weighs a whopping 18 tons, and the idea came about back in 2015 — but only took four months to come to life. Just inaugurated, Schall explains that the house’s foundation is supported by three columns that measure three meters all around, dug deep into the earth and tied together underground.
As any Instagram-lover can imagine, “La Casa Loca” has become a social media sensation. Now, people from all over the world are traveling to Guatavita, close to Bogotá, to get their fair share of trippy photos.
Schall welcomes people taking photos all over the house, saying it is completely free and that photographers help take pictures of the whole family. Photos show people hanging off “the roof” of kitchens, or flying above beds.
One woman told Telemundo that the left side of the house makes you feel like you’re about to fall over, but people are loving it just the same.
Tickets cost just $4.50 dollars for adults and $3.50 for children, while the house also features a German restaurant and a play area for kids — even if we think this house is definitely fun enough on its own.
