For over thirty years a five story rickety wooden structure with long undulating staircases and haphazardly protruding balconies have been standing atop a hillock in the middle of Wapiti Valley, near the town of Cody, in the US state of Wyoming, not far from the Yellowstone National Park. The house was a labor of love, built single-handedly by an eccentric engineer named Francis Lee Smith.

Smith spent twelve years building the log house using timber salvaged from a wildfire on the nearby Rattlesnake Mountain. After the fire damaged trees on the mountain slope, the half-burnt timber became free picking for anyone who could help clear the mountain. Using a few extra hands for help, Smith carted them down to the valley and started building his dream cabin.

Photo credit: richardrealty.com