10 homes with unique -- and over-the-top -- features
(MoneyWatch) Ever wanted a Star Wars-themed bar, in-house telescope or dance club in your home?
Some homeowners take personalization to the extreme, building one-of-a-kind features into their properties. Most of the features are hidden inside seemingly normal-looking homes that blend in with their neighborhoods.
Here are 10 homes with features that offer an unusual twist.
10 homes with unique -- and over-the-top -- features
Glowing, Gothic wine cellar
This wine cellar doesn't bear much resemblance to the wood-and-stone wine cellars seen in some upscale homes. But this isn't a just any house -- it's the Tennessee home of interior designer Jamie Beckwith. Guests can first view the wine cellar from a glass-bottomed sitting room above and watch the LED lights installed in the "cellar" change colors. The arched design, which is repeated throughout the home, gives it the feel of a Gothic-style church. The home is on the market for $5.3 million.
10 homes with unique -- and over-the-top -- features
Private observatory
Talk about a home with a view. This Laguna Niguel, Calif., home looks almost like any other home on the block from the outside, but it conceal a pretty impressive secret on the inside inside -- a private observatory with a telescope for star-gazing. According to Realtor.com, the motorized telescope is accessible through a spiral staircase and can be wired to transmit video to televisions throughout the home. The home is on the market for $3.2 million.
10 homes with unique -- and over-the-top -- features
Bed fit for a king
This castle bed featured in an Austin, Texas, home takes the old race car bed to a whole new level. The home is on the market for $1.5 million, but a sale is pending.
10 homes with unique -- and over-the-top -- features
Life-size labyrinth
This Telluride, Colo., home has a lot of unique features, including a 75-foot indoor pool, indoor shooting range, golf fairway and putting green, and a bowling alley. But its most unique feature is the full-scale replica of the labyrinth at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres in France. The famous labyrinth is about 43 feet by 43 feet and dominates the center part of the church, while the replica sits in a quiet spot on this Colorado property, which is on the market for $18.5 million.
10 homes with unique -- and over-the-top -- features
Retro bowling alley
This massive Colonial-style estate looks prim and proper on the outside, but it hides a colorful secret. The home features a 1950s-style, four-lane bowling alley, complete with a dining area and snack bar. The Dallas home is on the market for $19 million.
10 homes with unique -- and over-the-top -- features
Themed bars
This Carmel, Ind., home is located outside Indianapolis, but the inside can transport you to another planet entirely. The home features a fairly elaborate Star Wars-themed bar, with a view from the Death Star and a life-sized Darth Vader standing nearby. If that's too galactic, guests can also enjoy a Prohibition-era Chicago Rush Street-themed patio and dance floor. The home is on the market for $4.5 million.
10 homes with unique -- and over-the-top -- features
Boat bathtub
This Palm Springs, Calif., home has a number of artistic touches -- after all it was the home of graphic designer Jeffrey Kerns -- but one of the more unusual features has to be one of the more practical. It has a bathtub in the shape of a boat floating inside the bathroom, complete with a statue of a man ready to dive in. The home just sold for $2 million.
10 homes with unique -- and over-the-top -- features
Van crashing through the wall
This Sausalito, Calif., home has one element that would really appeal to a Volkswagen devotee: a classic VW Type 2 van crashing through the living room wall. The wall-mounted artwork, which lights up, is detachable, so it's possible that the piece didn't stay when new owners bought the property for $1.4 million.
10 homes with unique -- and over-the-top -- features
Glow-in-the-dark nightclub
Los Angeles is full of nightclubs. But the owners of this $24.2 million estate wanted a club on their own property. The home not only has an Atlantis-themed bar and arcade, it also has a downstairs nightclub equipped with a dance floor, stage, bar and light show, as well as glow-in-the-dark artwork lining the walls.
10 homes with unique -- and over-the-top -- features
Star Wars bedroom
What makes the bedroom in this Las Vegas home unusual is not just that it's covered in a Star Wars mural, but that the mural focuses on the newest additions to the Star Wars franchise. Yoda and Mace Windu make appearances on the wall, but not Luke Skywalker. The home is on the market for $1.3 million.