The Crazy House of Vietnam is a house and a guesthouse slash café slash art gallery and looks like something out of Alice in Wonderland. The Vietnamese version of one of the Gaudi building of Barcelona. It looks more like a Disneyland attraction than a place you would actually live and made me think of Dali and his crazy creations more than once.
This topsy-turvy piece of work was designed by eccentric architect Ms Dang Viet Nga who is said to draw paintings of her ideas then give them to local craftsmen to make a reality. She has stated that the design of the house is about bringing people back in touch with nature. I think it definitely brings you in touch with some lovely crazy!
This is definitely one of the strangest and most extraordinary places I got to explore in Vietnam and turned into my favourite. The bizarre structure rises several stories above the buildings around it, and from some angles it looks like a kind of convoluted tree stump. The place is filled with caves, giant spider webs made out of fairy lights and wire and even concrete tree trunks that turn out to be the steps leading up to your bedroom.
One very unique feature is that there are no square windows in the whole house and the whole place is covered in bizarre wooden sculptures. Each room in this crazy and bizarre place is themed after a different animal, including the ant, tiger, kangaroo and bear. Some of these rooms look like caves on the inside and one even has red velvet walls with a mirror above the bed. Unfortunately none of my photos that I took inside this marvelous building came out so this gives me a great reason to visit it again someday!
As you can imagine this place caused quite a stir with the locals in the beginning, but they have since grown to appreciate the odd construction. I think it is because it brings a lot of tourists to the area and is a great topic for conversation.
It has a concrete giraffe with a tearoom inside and even a nude female statue (very rare in Vietnam).
Business manager Thang Viet Nguyen, 38, said: ‘At the beginning most of people did not accept Crazy House because it was too abnormal, odd, and strange.
‘Gradually people understand it more, little by little.
‘Now Crazy House has become acceptable, and is a place that attracts tourists from many other countries.’
Wandering around and getting lost in this maze of buildings and rooms is definitely part of the experience. I ended up seeing some rooms more than once and do hope that I didn’t end up missing a room during all my wondering.
I got to meet the gallery designer, Mrs Dang Nga, who looks like a 1960’s French hippie, and believe me she is just as crazy as her Crazy House. She actually has a PhD in architecture from Moscow and has designed a number of other buildings around Dalat. One of her earlier masterpieces, the ‘House with 100 Roofs’, was torn down as a fire hazard because the People’s Committee thought it looked anti-socialist. Luckily I got to visit it before it got torn down, here is a photo of the entrance.
You can see that she really enjoys designing these strange and outrageously artistic rooms and structures. The Crazy House is a maze of slim bridges, and “flowing lava” that you get to crawl through as you move through the place. Mrs Dang Nga is still actually busy building on this ” Crazy House” and says that she hopes to finish her vision by the year 2020. I would love to come back once it is finished to see the end result.
Janaline's world journey 
I LOVE it! Definitely thinking ‘out of the box” (literally). We need more of that in this world. I wonder is she designing for others, or only her own projects? It would be neat to be able to hire her one day to design my dream house. 😉
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That would be fabulous Jill…..I am sure she will be able to give some very unique tips!
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Fabulous place. Sorry I missed it when in Vietnam. This a reason to return. Completely new to me. Thanks for sharing and enlightening!
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There are so many wonderful things in Vietnam that I never got to see….would love to go back for another adventure!
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totally crazy. Thanks for sharing, Janaline
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You are welcome!!
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I cannot believe they destroyed that building for looking anti-socialist!
We visited the crazy house as well (and the highlight was seeing the architect herself wandering around – I think she really loves mingling with visitors!). But you captured it so very well.
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Thank you Bronwyn. She creates the most interesting things and even clothes, of which I ended up buying a shirt for myself.
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Really? I did not know about the clothes. Will just have to go back 🙂
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Thanks for following my blog. I have njoyed your blog and will follow it as well. beebeesworld
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Thank you and a huge welcome to my journey!!
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Amazing place.Great post. I wonder when it was first built as I don’t remember it from the mid nineties when I was in Da Lat. I recall a similar place – not quite so crazy – in the South of France somewhere that I visited many years ago but can’t remember where!
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Wow, I wonder how many of these crazy house places there are around the world that we dont even know of?
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How amazing is this place?? I would love to go there too!! 😃
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It is a mixture of gaudi and Dali all in one!
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True! Its amazing 😀
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This looks amazing- I love crazy things so if I’m ever in vietnam I know where I’ll be going 🙂
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You definitely have to go and explore Dalat!! And she might have finished the house by then so I am sure it will look completely different from these photos.
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Thanks it is now on my to do list.
My list is only a list of possibilities.
I want nothing as I have all I need.
It is good of you to share your travels.
Regards Jack.
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Thanks Jack! I suspect a lot of us have travel-wish-lists of places we would love to see and explore in person.
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Crazy house indeed! crazy beautiful!!! 🙂 Too bad, the House with 100 Roofs got torn down.
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It is quite sag and they had the best hot chocolate at the 100 Roofs cafe!
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That is absolutely amazing!
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It looks like it is out of a weird Alice in Wonderland episode!
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This looks interesting!
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Her work is fantastic and she even makes the most interesting jewelry and clothes, of which I bought myself a couple of pieces.
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this is the coolest house I’ve ever seen 🙂
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I would love to live in an interesting place like this Ana!
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Me too, I am quite the fan of the bizarre 🙂
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I have been following your adventures with great interest, and have nominated your blog for the Very Inspiring Blog Award, so keep up the great work and I look forwards to more of your adventures 🙂
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A huge thank you for the big compliment of nominating me for this award!
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lovely,,,its amazing,,,,,at-least i got to know about the things i m missing,,,,those pic are awesome
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Thank you! This place a a real hidden gem!
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Some bits are definitely crazy but others remind me of the work of Gaudi and I wouldn’t call him crazy! Thanks for the view of somewhere elsewhere 🙂
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These people operate at a different level of creativeness and imagination.
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Wow!!
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The Gaudi building of Vietnam!
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Definitely a place to visit. It’s a rarity.
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Its is one of a kind! The coffee shop was just as amazing, such a pity they burned it down.
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Reblogged this on Little Human and commented:
Exquisite design.
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A massive thank you for the re-blog!
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So bizarre. It is like something out of ghoulish dream.
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It does look like a world that can change and reshape itself at will…..
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Very cool. I’ve never heard of this place before. Thanks for sharing”!
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You’re welcome Terri. It is one of those hidden gems of Vietnam.
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Wonderful. This is a terrific find. My wife and I were both oohing and aahing over your pics.
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Thank you! It was such an interesting place that I took way too many photos and afterwords realized I still missed out on photographing some of the weird buildings.
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Janaline- You are awesome !
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Thanks Geet!!
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It’s wonderful. I’ve only just discovered Gaudi, I see there’s something a lot more fun built out there just for the looking. 😀
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I just love Gaudi!! He is one of the main reasons I went to Barcelona which is filled with his crazy creations.
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I understand why this became a favourite! Smashing! What ideas and imagery…what fantasy and playfulness. If I ever go to this country I’d love to visit.
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It is a must if you ever travel through Vietnam! I know Dalat is not always on everyone’s travel list and the only reason I got to see this was because my Vietnamese friends took me.
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It looks like something out of a fantasy tale. Can see why you had fun exploring it.
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It felt like being inside an Alice in Wonderland story!
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Extraordinary! A house like that would never get built in England as it would have to get past a load of unimaginative bean-counters in grey suits to gain planning approval.
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That is sad but a reality in a lot of countries. I think in Vietnam they can get away with a lot of things that would never be allowed in other countries.
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That IS crazy! wow
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Its is a combination of crazy and beautiful!
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Wonderful article and photos!!!!
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Thanks Kathie. It is one of those places that inspire you to be creative.
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I would have loved to see this. Where is it?
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Its north of Ho Chi Minh city in Da Lat, Vietnam. Snuggled between the mountains and surrounded by lakes and waterfalls.
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What an amazing place! Great pics!
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Thank you! I loved this place and even got to meet the architect of this amazing building.
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Didn’t know such building actually existed! It has a touch of Harry Potter + Peter Pan feel to it. Haha! Definitely an interesting building to check out!
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I am a big lover of fantasy and surrealist art and this place is the ideal combination of these two worlds.
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I cant believe I missed this it looks AMAZING! is it near Da Lat? I would love to visit it!
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This is in Da Lat itself. If you can it is a must visit, it is a very weird and creative place to experience! Just a shame the coffee house is not there anymore.
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