Has anybody ever actually designed a House Shaped like a Rook?

[Sam Sloan]

"I got strong ideas about my house. I'm going to hire the best architect and have him build it in the shape of a rook. Yeh, that's for me. Class. Spiral staircases, parapets, everything. I want to live the rest of my life in a house built exactly like a rook."

This seems like an interesting idea. Has anybody ever done this or designed one?

Sam Sloan

[RicodJour]

What's another name for a rook? There's your answer.

R

[Paul Rubin]

There is also an album about the concept:

[Larry Tapper]

If you search for "tower house" or "Turmhaus", you'll find a number of examples of old houses that are pretty close.

Here's one in Switzerland:

Larry T.

[Edgar]

Best example I've seen is this:

PDF link!)

[Roarmeister]

Yeah. My neighbours when I was a kid (Herbert, Saskatchewan, Canada). Old man Holmes literally built an amateur "castle" of a home for his wife - using wood. Huge garden, etc. The house wasn't really that special but it was built with love. My grad pictures were taken in front of the building. But unfortunately when he passed away, his widow couldn't keep up the place and eventually she was placed in a care home and the house was torn down.

In 1933 Tom Holmes built a home on the foundation of the H.M. Klassen home/Hospital in the style of a miniature castle, to resemble the architecture he had known as a boy in England.

It was a large square structure with turrets at each corner raised above the centre roof level, and battlements all around the perimeter of the roof. It contained a large central kitchen, dining room, a parlor with a huge fireplace, and 4 bedrooms. The large wooden doors, between the kitchen or common room area and the parlor and dining room, could be opened by pulling them back into the narrow double wall recess on each side. These huge doors were built by young Deke Kroeker to Tom's specifications.

The grounds which had first been planted by H.M. Klassen in the early years, were a small forest of trees, plants and shrubs which Tom, with all the skill and energy of an English gardener, kept in immaculate and beautiful order. It was an "oasis in the desert" for the town, with statuary, a fountain, wishing well and blessed greenery, and the grounds were always open to anyone who cared to wander through.

[Ray Gordon]

Most every king before 1500?

[Sam Sloan]

Here is a great article about this.

Now, there is a new development. Bobby lives in Iceland which, due to the cold temperature, makes it the ideal place to build a house shaped like a rook.

Bobby has money now, so why not propose to really build his house for him?

Sam Sloan

[William Saens]

A con job?

Willie

[Rob]

[Rob]