142 Park Road, Pitsford, New York is  an innocuous enough  sounding  address – but the property looks like a cross between an alien landing and a cluster of hobbit houses on stilts and has just had a $300,000 (€226,760) price reduction down to  a mere $799,900 (€604,581) through Remax Advance.

When I say property I should really   say “rare and premier art icon home”  designed by architect James Johnson  in 1971 who “fashioned this unique dwelling after a stem of Queen Anne’s Lace,”  according to the estate agent, or realtor as they call  them there.

It’s divided into five connecting pods and is 4,168 sq ft (387 sq m) says the estate agent who is proficient in the use of exclamation marks and block capitals. Apparently it has updated baths! is in MINT CONDITION! and has a new great room added by the original architect which has  a gas fireplace  and outside hot tub!…what they don’t mention is that inside it looks a little bit like a cave…

As well as two big  living areas, there are three bedrooms including a master suite with an office. The  guest pod has two bedrooms and there’s a patio. More than 10,000 tiles were used to bedazzle the  walls , floors and counters.  The property is on the market since the summer when it went on at $1.1 million (€831,185) but it seems the market for ahem..unconventional..  property is as slow in the US as it is here.

Click here to see the photo gallery

The most unusual house I’ve come across in this country  is Harlech House  in Goatstown, Dublin 14   which has been on the market through Sherry FitzGerald for a few months asking €2.75 million.  When I saw the photos of 142 Park Road, I couldn’t help notice similarities between the interiors of the  two properties – while Harlech House is not particularly cave-like , there’s a similar use of glittery tiles on plaster, and sculpture that looks like it’s growing up (and down)  the walls .  Click here for Alanna Gallagher’s take on the house and for photos. Below is a picture of one of the bedrooms  with iron triffid-like structures  protruding from  the ceiling. She described the house “as part-Tim Burton, part-Game of Thrones with the Brother’s Grimm, thrown in for good measure.”

Recently, two months after Alanna’s piece on  the house was published , it  reached the  number two slot  on the Irish Times website most read list after it was picked up by  Reddit.com. Alas, the renewed interest on the website didn’t result in an increase in enquries for Sherry FitzGerald.

One of the bedrooms at Harlech House