When I search for green things to blog about, I always like the creative and unusual. I found both of those in John Milkovisch and his Beer Can House.
Milkovisch covered his Houston house in beer cans. There seemed to be an abundance of beer cans in the ‘70s. When I was little, maybe it was just a southern thing, but people around here made hats of beer cans. They would cut them up, punch holes in them and crochet them into a hat. Sounds attractive, doesn’t it? Hey, it was the ‘70s.
Anyhow in 1968, Milkovisch found himself retired from the Southern Pacific Railroad and apparently wanted a project to keep him busy. He started with landscaping, inlaying marbles, rocks, and pieces of metal in concrete and redwood. Like myself, he didn’t like mowing grass, so he covered the entire front and back yard.
Once that project was done, Milkovisch moved on to his Picasso. He figured he’d add aluminum siding to the house and what better material to use than beer cans. It took him 18 years, but eventually, Milkovisch covered his entire house in beer cans.
(Andrew Wiseman, the copyright holder of this work, allows it to be published under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.)
But, he also used the cans for decoration. He has beer can garland that hangs from the roof. Now before you go thinking “How silly is this,” know that Milkovisch’s 50,000 beer cans that adorn his house helped keep his energy bills down.
You have to wonder if Milkovisch drank all the beer to create this house. He didn’t – he says his wife and neighbors helped.
And what kind of reaction did the house get when people drove by? Milkovisch told people it tickled him to see people “screech to a halt” when they see the house. He also said some people drive around the block a few times, just to take it all in.
Milkovisch and his wife Mary have since passed away and the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art acquired the house. The center has a plan to renovate the house and carefully restore the work Milkovisch did.
If you want to take in this recycling wonder, you can from 12-5 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. The house is located on 222 Malone Street and admission is $2.00.