The Postman Who Built a Palace Made of Pebbles

This is the story of a French postman who spent thirty years of his life building his dream home– a palace made of pebbles and stones he found along his postal route…. Ferdinand Cheval allegedly first began building his “Palais Ideale” in 1879 when he tripped over an unusual stone. Inspired by its shape, he…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. XVII)

1. Paris Underwater In January 1910, Paris suffered through its worst flood in 250 years. The Seine climbed over 20 feet above normal levels and flowed through the city’s streets. Parisians survived by working together to overcome political and social divisions. via Paris en Images 2. Miniature Lantern String Lights Available to buy from The…

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Paris in the Springtime: How to Avoid Everyone

This is how I like my outdoor terraces: deserted, tourist-free and preferably childless (sorry parents but screaming kids are just not part of my vision for an al fresco paradise). But since we’re coming out of what seems like the longest winter yet, at the first hint of sun, you can bet everyone and their…

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13 Things that would make your day at the Office Suck Less

1. Getting a Pug instead of a security guy via here 2. Making this happen during your rival’s presentation 3. Creating family portraits with your USB keys via here 4. Convincing the office manager that the coffee machine should make stuff more like this… P.S. This photograph is…

A Real life “HBO Girls” Living Experience for $1500 p/m in Brooklyn

Secretly, a lot of us probably believe our lives deserve their own HBO television shows, but it takes a certain breed of superfan to advertise for a roommate on Craigslist promising a real-life HBO’s Girls living experience. So I thought I’d bring to your attention one such caucasian, 20s-something superfan called Hannah (yes like Hannah…

Lost Films: Hitchcock, Gatsby and Oscar-winning Movies that Vanished

Who made the better Gatsby? Did DiCaprio pull off a pink suit as well as Robert Redford did in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 adaptation? There is another version of The Great Gatsby, although we won’t be making any comparisons with it because the 1926 silent film by Paramount Pictures has simply ceased to exist. Very few are even…

Moving Day! The House that was Sawn in Half and Shipped across the Bay

Sawn in half with a chainsaw, wheeled down the streets of San Francisco, stuck on a barge at Marina Green and moved across the bay to Belvedere– it’s safe to say it was no ordinary moving day for the Knowles-Moffitt Mansion on July 3rd, 1962. Sawn in half, the Victorian mansion sits on a barge waiting…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. XVI)

1. Spotted! Mona Lisa at the Louvre (waiting for the bus) (c) Clémentine Mélois via here 2. An art gallery filled with pink balloons by Martin Creed 3. A Retro TV Memo holder Shop here 4. Five Generations of Batman via here 5. Vans I ♥ NY sneakers Available from April 19th…

Anywhere but Here: Ponte Tower

When was the last time you felt like complaining to your landlord? It seems there’s always something disgruntling about where we live (I’m currently annoyed with the workmen in the building who keep blanketing my mobylette in dust), but then you read about a place like the Ponte Tower and suddenly, wherever you’re shacked up doesn’t…

The 1950s Nightclub hidden inside an old Food Depot

It was known as the ‘Party Pad’, a clandestine bring-your-own-bottle establishment occupying the upper floor of a deserted produce warehouse on Davis Street, downtown San Francisco. The underground hipster hub was run without a license by a beatnik generation actor and poet known as Eric “Big Daddy” Nord, a well-known figure of the bohemian scene in California…