They say a man’s home is his castle, and for no man is that a truer statement than for Marcio Mizael Matolias. He’s lived in an actual seaside castle for the last 22 years, but there is a catch. It’ s made entirely of sand!
Yes, that’s right, the 44-year-old Matolias lives in a sandcastle. It’s located on one of Rio de Janerio’s pristine beaches and the impressive structure has become a bit of a tourist attraction. Locals have even given Matolias his very own crown, making him the king of his sand castle.
Before we show you Matolias’s live-in sand castle, let’s revisit a few other unusual homes. Remember hearing about the Oregan man who turned an airplane into his very own humble abode? Bruce Campbell, 64, rescued a Boeing 747 from a scrap heap and made it livable for a whopping $218,000.
Then there was the option of living in a state of the art igloo home in India. Yes, you read that right. I did say India. Winter sports enthusiasts Vikas Kumar and Tashi Dorje came up with the idea to offer adventure junkies a one-of-a-kind hotel experience in Manali.
You can see Matolias at work in the video below. He certainly has an eye for detail. It’s amazing how he’s managed to create such an incredible and unique home.
I’d definitely prefer a nice warm sandcastle to a chilly igloo!
Matolias says his sandcastle home certainly is warm. “The sand holds all the heat, so sometimes at night, I can not sleep here,” he says. “I’ll spend the night at a friend’s house, but I prefer it here even if I have to lie outside by the sea.”
During the day, Matolias spends most of his time outside of his sandcastle home. After all, it does take a lot of work tending to the impressive structure’s facade. It says he was inspired to build it after a friend gave him a book on Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi.
Matolias’s castle is actually filled with books, as well as childhood toys, and he pays for his food by running a second-hand bookshop from his castle. He also enjoys playing seaside golf and entertaining tourists. Matolias has embraced his “king” nickname and now even has a throne and a scepter on site.
However, sand is not the strongest of building materials and Matolias also must spend a lot of time maintaining his castle. Although it has a makeshift wooden frame, he has to constantly water the turrets to prevent them from falling in on his 3X3 meter wide bedroom.
Matolias enjoys the work he must do to his castle, though, as uses the flexibility he has to change the design of his home regularly. He takes inspiration from Antoni Gaudi and creates intricate, mosaic-like patterns on the outside of his castle or experiments with tall turrets.
He says he’s always lived by the beach and wanted to continue doing so, but beachside real estate is very expensive so the sandcastle life was a logical solution.”People pay exorbitant rents to live in front of the sea, I do not have bills and here I have a good life,” he reveals.
Kind of makes you want to dig our your old childhood sand toys and head to the beach, doesn’t it?
