NAME Cosmic Muffin
LOCATION Fort Lauderdale
PRICE $7,500 in 1981

"Everyone tried to talk me out of buying it," says printer Dave Drimmer, 50, of the Boeing 307 Stratoliner that was once Howard Hughes's private plane. Previous owners sheared off its wings and tail and made it seaworthy before Drimmer spent $150,000—"my life savings"—to turn it into a houseboat. "It's a real love affair for him," says his mother, Grace Snyder. "But sometimes I wish he'd just get married and settle down."

NAME Brant Rock Tower
LOCATION Marshfield, Mass.
PRICE $120,000 in 1998

What do you call a guy who lives in a 70-ft, 8-floor concrete tower built by the Army to spot enemy submarines during World War II? "Kooky," admits Cisco Meneses, 41, owner of a business that makes fire escapes. The married father of twin boys, Meneses vacations in the three-bedroom, two-bath monolith. Its best feature? "A million-dollar view," he says. The worst part: "Tons of bird poop."

NAME The Sculptured House
LOCATION Genesee, Colo.
PRICE $1,325 million in 1999

Featured in Woody Allen's 1973 sci-fi comedy Sleeper, the UFOish hillside home is 7,700 sq. ft.—or "round feet," notes John Huggins, 44, a venture capitalist who spent several million dollars turning the run-down 1963 structure into a luxury second home. Thoroughly circular—even the elevator is tube-shaped—the four-bedroom disk is on the market for $10 million. "It's a happy place," says Huggins. "It's a work of art you can live in."

NAME The Golf Ball House
LOCATION Yucca, Ariz.
PRICE $50,000 in 1981

There's no place like dome: The 40-ft.-wide orb, built to be a nightclub, has three levels and 51 windows. "It's a fun place," says Ardell Schimmel, 69, who has lived there with retired husband Hank, 67, for 11 years. "I don't think we'll ever move."