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Taiwan has an unusual fixation on UFO houses. Browse around the web and you’ll invariably encounter references to the famous UFO resort in Sanzhi, demolished long ago in 2009. Keep digging and you might read about a second UFO resort in Wànlǐ 萬里, still extant and the subject of a future post. But there’s more—and you don’t even have to leave Taipei 台北 city limits to find another example of this peculiar architectural fetish.

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Turns out there’s a small UFO house hidden among the high-rises just east of Dūnhuà South Road 敦化南路 in Dà'ān District 大安區, one of the richest areas of the country. From the news report it sounds like the owner isn’t a full-time resident—actually, he’s a wealthy landlord, from the sounds of it, evidently one with eccentric taste. The unit, which boasts indoor plumbing, air conditioning, and a small parking space underneath the body of the house, appears to be entirely livable. I wonder if the owner has heard of AirBNB?

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I am curious about the ultimate origin of this obviously prefabricated house. This is not, as you might imagine, a Futuro House, for it is obviously too small. Nor is it one-of-a-kind, for I have also seen evidence of at least four more in the ruins of Shàngxīn Garden 上新花園 in Yílán 宜蘭. I’ll ask around and see if I can find out anything else and will update this post if I learn anything new.

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Wondering where this is? I won’t provide any more clues than what I’ve already shared—but I can assure you that finding this place is not that hard if you sleuth around Google Maps for a few minutes or hit the streets. Part of the fun of urban exploration is puzzling these things out for yourself!