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Someone Is Documenting Ugly Houses They See Around Adelaide, And These 35 Do Not Disappoint
First, we had 'Ugly Belgian Houses.' Then there was 'Ugly Irish Houses.' Shortly after, 'Ugly Dutch Houses' popped up. But the latest Instagram account mocking local architectural decisions comes from the Land Down Under.
With a name similar to those of its distant cousins, 'Ugly Adelaide Houses' is also on a mission to show just how subjective human taste really is, and it's doing just as good of a job.
At the moment, the account can't brag about having too many followers — there are 3,355 of them — but this number isn't the only factor that determines how good someone's content is. Plus, everyone has to start from zero.
So continue scrolling to check out what 'Ugly Adelaide Houses' has been posting!
More info: Instagram
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Caroline Kimber 3 years ago
My Mum once said that my passport photo, from when I was 12, made me look like a gargoyle. From seeing this, I now know what she meant!
Marlene Ricker 3 years ago
I'd like to meet the people who live here. They obviously have a good sense of humour. I quite like the goofy lion!
Bender Bending Rodríguez 3 years ago
Oh boy! I scrolled down too fast. Got a jump scare after a long time.
RELATED:
#2
Agfox 3 years ago (edited)
"Why, yes, the building was designed using the SIMS & MS Paint, how did you know?"
Amanda Rose 3 years ago
How many windows should I order, boss? All of them. Every single one of them.
Deborah B 3 years ago
They need to paint it in all different colours so it looks like a terraced hill covered in flat-roofed houses.
Tuule Tanum 3 years ago
Something in line with Hundertwasser. I would like it.
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Lokitti 3 years ago
It triggers my trypophobia too, I came here to say that!. (Disgust/repulsion/fear or other visceral reaction at holes in things, usually irregular holes. Be careful if you're going to Google it lol) Makes my skin crawl...
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Connie Martin 3 years ago
Argh I couldn't live in the same city with this, it triggers trypophobia. Might be okay once the windows were in the building, but I wouldn't chance it anyway
The person (or persons) behind the account goes by the nickname Frank Gehrysh, which is an obvious reference to Canadian-born American architect and designer Frank Gehry.
His works, which include the Dancing House in Prague, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and the National Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial, are considered among the most important of contemporary architecture, leading Vanity Fair to call him "the most important architect of our age".
So with a showrunner like that, I guess we really need to think twice before talking ill of 'Ugly Adelaide Houses.'
#3
Kristy Watson 3 years ago
Lol that's near my parents. Always makes me double take when I drive by
Australian architecture has often been consistent with architectural trends of the wider Western world, with some special adaptations to compensate for its distinctive climatic and cultural factors such as Edwardian architecture and Brutalist architecture.
Indigenous Australians mostly produced semi-permanent structures from readily available materials.
During the country's early Western history, it was a collection of British colonies in which architectural styles were strongly influenced by the outsiders.
#6
M. L. Dew 3 years ago
Hmmmmm..... A) Hates washing windows B) Allergic to the sun (xeroderma pigmentosum) C) Vampires!
Persephone 3 years ago
Omg this makes me think of the book "The Twits" and why they hated windows...
#7
#8
Lee 3 years ago
Someone else remembers!!!!!! I was hoping I'd see a reference.
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#9
Angela Branson 3 years ago
I bet that place has mold, not going anywhere near it. In fact, I'm crossing the street to go around this place, maybe turning around to find an alternate route.
But the unique climate of Australia necessitated adaptations, and 20th-century trends reflected the increasing influence of American urban designs and diversification of the cultural tastes and requirements of an increasingly multicultural local society.
Notable Australian architectural adaptations include the Queenslander and Federation styles of residential architecture.
#10
Amanda Rose 3 years ago
What is up with the words on the fence? "how many perverts have matching xmas..." then I can't make out the rest. Weird.
Night Owl 3 years ago (edited)
Perfect for a kindergarten (I mean the color sheme, not the weird text on the fence)
Load More Replies... Penny Hernandez 3 years ago
I love the shopping cart accenting the fence. It's the little things that make all the difference.
SR 3 years ago
The daycare kids got to choose how their building would be painted.
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Diemond Star 3 years ago
Idk why but it makes me think the owner of the Clown Motel lives here.
#11
Amanda Rose 3 years ago
They straight up step terraced their garden. I don't think I've seen that happen before.
Gerald Winn 3 years ago
See Sanssouci Palace's (Potsdam, Germany) terraced garden to see how the pros did it back in the 1700s.
#12
FrillyDragon 3 years ago
The first picture looks mostly fine... that second picture is where all becomes...a bit tilted.
#13
FrillyDragon 3 years ago
At first I thought this looked cool, like some neat designs on the house. The longer I looked, though, the more questions began to arise.
Enamelcamel 3 years ago
Those are actually roll-up security screens. People who DON'T live somewhere year-round tend to put them on their houses to reduce break-ins when they're away.
Huddo's sister 3 years ago
They are also used to keep the house cool in summer- Aussie heat-beating is more important than looks
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Lazy Panda (she/her/hers) 3 years ago
I’ve never seen a house with five o’clock shadow before.
Iconic Australian buildings that have made a name for themselves in Australian architecture history and winning architecture competitions include the UNESCO-listed Sydney Opera House, Melbourne Royal Exhibition Building, Brisbane City Hall, and the 11 remnant penal colony sites selected for World Heritage protection in 2010.
#14
Araminta 3 years ago
Agreed, just add some plants and a doormat or something, this isn't terrible
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Huddo's sister 3 years ago
I was going to say to keep out the heat, but in that case the blinds should line up with the window frames
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Zachary Gillette 3 years ago
There isn't a car/truck I've seen today in the U.S. that would fit in those garages.
#15
FrillyDragon 3 years ago (edited)
Same! I want to have a castle- looking home one day :)
Load More Replies... Penny Hernandez 3 years ago
Do they even know what crenellations are for? If so, who are they expecting to attack?
Deborah Harris 3 years ago
It's Austrailia... i'm guessing anything with 8 legs
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Daycare Attendant Sun 3 years ago
I like it. It's eclectic. One of those houses you use as a landmark.
Rocket ship 3 years ago
I would love to live in Helm's deep! Or Khazad-dûm ( pre balrog)
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FrillyDragon 3 years ago
Corpses* I think you mean. Corps ("core") are a military term. Like the army corps or maybe corps.
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Eiram 3 years ago (edited)
This house is hilarious. If the tiny bushes are fake too, it makes it even better. If real and they grow up, they could be geometic topiary. I swear some stained glass oversize pots as accents along the front of the porch, with flowers would pull the whole look together.
Rose the Cook 3 years ago
Say what you like about the dodgy grass and the awnings for the heat, but I quite like the polished stone fronts on the houses around Adelaide.
#17
kim morris 3 years ago
I just want to hug that house and tell it everything is going to be ok, we'll take care of it, and fix it up and make it nice and pretty again.
Cara G 3 years ago
Was about to say the same thing. I feel sad for this house, it's been a victim of long term abuse and mistreatment. This isn't the house's fault that people are awful. Some fresh paint and bit of landscaping will give this house a whole new life!
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Pirates of Zen Pants 3 years ago
I can't get over the fact that it says "Too Cold." In sunny Adelaide, Australia.
Cheryl Skina 3 years ago
This is why I absolutely avoid looking at any 'Fixer Upper' realtor posts, because it's realtor-speak for, 'Spent the last decade as a crack den.'
Australian houses and Australian buildings have evolved significantly over time, from the early structures made from relatively cheap and imported corrugated iron (which can still be seen in the roofing of historic homes) to more sophisticated ideas borrowed from other countries, such as the Victorian style from the United Kingdom, the Georgian style from North America and Europe and the Californian bungalow from the United States.
#18
Cara G 3 years ago (edited)
Ha! I was going to say that this is kind of what the Guggenheim Museum looks like! 🤣
Load More Replies... 2WheelTravlr 3 years ago
They had something going there until they ruined it with that big 'ol tongue sticking out of the top.
Cara G 3 years ago
I just said the same thing in another comment! It looks like the Guggenheim!!
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All's Gravy 3 years ago
An architect's own home - full of ideas, but not unified and just too much!
Hippopotamuses 3 years ago
Whatever the design inspiration, all those extra angles cost money.
#20
Owen Jarvis 3 years ago
I like this one. Just add a mural onto the left bit and water the grass. Boom! Cool house.
censorshipsucks 3 years ago
IF this is a changeroom on a beach and has a small café or convenience store with a serving hatch on the righthand side, it's ok. If it's not that, I have questions.
Chase Daniele 3 years ago
This photo is years old. Literally taken while it was under construction. Go check it out now. It has a stunning beach garden & balcony.
Daycare Attendant Sun 3 years ago
Needs some foliage, maybe a nice outdoor seating set. It's got character.
#21
Catte West 3 years ago
Someone started one of those match three home renovation games and got stuck on level 10.
#22
#23
Bobert Robertson 3 years ago
Oooh you're counting the negative space too. I saw KXY
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Susann Campbell 3 years ago
I see a house that is advertising something we want to go away, KKK is very bad, tear it down.
#24
Giles Martin 3 years ago
Is a free drawing application for basic plan drawing
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Penny Hernandez 3 years ago
How to use up the leftovers from other buildings. Waste not, want not.
Susann Campbell 3 years ago (edited)
This is a modern version of the Winchester House. Go ghost.
Max Robitzsch 3 years ago
How to add 10% to your house construction costs, while losing 5% of floor space and 15% of its future value.
#25
Pirates of Zen Pants 3 years ago
I can't figure out if this house is based on Edvard Munch's "The Scream" or the Home Alone poster.
Hippopotamuses 3 years ago
I love the way all this grandeur is topped by what appear to be bathroom windows.
Jill Hojnacki 3 years ago
I want to see the inside. I could get used to this one, depending on what’s in there.
In the 21st century, many Australian architects have taken a more avant-garde approach to design, and as you can tell from these pictures, buildings have emerged that are truly unique and reflective of Australia's culture and values. Some, of course, are more vibrant than others.
#26
Joseph Kastorff 3 years ago
The design isn't too bad. It's the mismatching of the lower brick and wood siding on the top portion that clashes...
Hippopotamuses 3 years ago
Yes sir and madam, the extension will fit seamlessly with the original style of your house.
#27
Stephanie A Mutti 3 years ago
To be fair, this one is clearly not done. The lack of windows seems lame though.
Matthews 3 years ago
Agreed. Maybe it’s waiting for a semi-detached company.
Load More Replies... Nicole Weymann 3 years ago
All that depressing grey concrete cries out for some climbing vines
Erica Ventura 3 years ago
I had exactly the same thought. If there's ever been something that needed a mural it's that stretch of concrete
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Birgit Sommer 3 years ago
Another oversized container home. They aren't pretty but have potential
Eiram 3 years ago
Not sure... it seems too wide, but they may be stacked and cut together in the middle.
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#28
Amanda Rose 3 years ago
This makes it look like the first floor sunk into the ground and the second floor is all that is left.
Deborah B 3 years ago
Proportionally, it should be the top floor of three or four stories, and the top floor is already 1/5 of the way under as well.
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Nefarious McFarious 3 years ago
When you have dreams of building a mansion put money for modular homes
Jill Hojnacki 3 years ago
Looks like it’s waiting to be picked up and put on top of something.
Lara Verne 3 years ago
It would look nice, once it's properly instaled. Add porch and some greenery.
#29
Huddo's sister 3 years ago
This is what half the new builds look like in housing estates at the moment- lots of boxes, all of varying materials.
#30
Angela Branson 3 years ago
These places are making me nauseous with all the weird angles. My OCD has gone full blown panic attack
#31
Florida, but without the beach 3 years ago
It would be great with just one roof
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FrillyDragon 3 years ago
This looks cool, but what's with the multi-roof look? Also columns don't need that many caps!
#32
censorshipsucks 3 years ago
I like it. It makes me want to pull a Dr Evil stunt and hold the world to ransom for ONE BILLION DAHLARS.
#33
Bored Person 3 years ago
The colour difference represents the division of the house, one building, two houses
Me Oh My 3 years ago
Whilst trying to maintain a unified color scheme. It's a lot better than if they had, say, painted one half magenta, and one half neon blue.
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Brandie Litchfield 3 years ago
Personally, I think it makes a lot of sense to buy a duplex, and rent out the other half to pay down your mortgage
Vladimíra Matejová 3 years ago (edited)
this is very common if you only own half of the house. and the disparity between the front and the left side: maybe they are repainting the house gradually? like they have the time and money for one wall later they will continue with another one? also maybe adding some plystyren in between ( which is expensive nowadays)?
#34
Jill Hojnacki 3 years ago
Don’t know what kind of view they have there, but I can think of a few places where I’d like that house very much,indeed.
Ela 3 years ago
I was thinking I could work with this one, but you made me laugh!
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#35
Mandy Delaforce (PC Girl) 3 years ago
These are typical of the new trend of splitting up existing houses on larger blocks and building little boxes.
censorshipsucks 3 years ago
I can see what happened here. Old 1950s style house got a makeover.
#36
#37
Deborah B 3 years ago
It looks like someone had one of those featureless boxes, then added faux-tudor cladding to try and help. But it didn't.
FrillyDragon 3 years ago
Yeah if they'd used less it would've looked much nicer.
Load More Replies... Nicole Weymann 3 years ago
Meh. Far too prominent garage ("I moved back in with my cars when I lost my job") plus faux "traditional" timbering. Nope.
#38
Huddo's sister 3 years ago
It's not even that unusual in Australia, if on a seafront street.
Load More Replies... #39
Stephanie A Mutti 3 years ago
It looks like Frank Lloyd Wright prairie style but with some modern materials.
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Add New Image
What do you think ?
Tacet 3 years ago
Yep, although was sure there was going to be more from up in the hills.
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Mich Bouwes 3 years ago
How precious are the posters? No one is getting hurt, people have different tastes and FFS why not be a people and introduce yourself to the resident if you have that big a problem?
Jason Cosby 3 years ago
It’s just for fun Mich. It ate a couple minutes and got your mind off of the real problems in life for just a moment.
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Lucía Hanzo 3 years ago
You haven't been in Mexico lol. In the other hand, I would like to live in any of those places happily
Huddo's sister 3 years ago
Not Adelaide, but still Australia, this monstrosity built next to where I used to live. I couldn't find a better pic, but it is one house using two different coloured bricks. It also had a whole wall of windows that overlooked our house they somehow managed to get through planning permission. 52-Carroll...f45b95.png 
Fenchurch 3 years ago
I was going to ask if their architecture school does free student projects because that is the only possible explanation
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Jo Morris 3 years ago
I looked at this post with extreme caution, in case my house was on it. Phew, it wasn't ;)
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Jenni Caruso 3 years ago
Adding the suburbs would have made it easier to identify the houses. Some of them are very familiar and now I’ll have to drive around to see if I can find them 😊
Tacet 3 years ago
Yep, although was sure there was going to be more from up in the hills.
Load More Replies... Mich Bouwes 3 years ago
How precious are the posters? No one is getting hurt, people have different tastes and FFS why not be a people and introduce yourself to the resident if you have that big a problem?
Jason Cosby 3 years ago
It’s just for fun Mich. It ate a couple minutes and got your mind off of the real problems in life for just a moment.
Load More Replies... Lucía Hanzo 3 years ago
You haven't been in Mexico lol. In the other hand, I would like to live in any of those places happily
Huddo's sister 3 years ago
Not Adelaide, but still Australia, this monstrosity built next to where I used to live. I couldn't find a better pic, but it is one house using two different coloured bricks. It also had a whole wall of windows that overlooked our house they somehow managed to get through planning permission. 52-Carroll...f45b95.png
Fenchurch 3 years ago
I was going to ask if their architecture school does free student projects because that is the only possible explanation
Load More Replies... Jo Morris 3 years ago
I looked at this post with extreme caution, in case my house was on it. Phew, it wasn't ;)
Load More Replies... Jenni Caruso 3 years ago
Adding the suburbs would have made it easier to identify the houses. Some of them are very familiar and now I’ll have to drive around to see if I can find them 😊
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