John Milkovisch’s Beer Can House in Houston, Texas

John Milkovisch’s Beer Can House on Malone Street in Houston, Texas – Photo: hey tiffany! | Flickr

Beer Can House on Malone Street in Houston, Texas, is one of the unique houses that is purely artistic. The House has attracted the attention of photographers, folk art collectors, museum directors, writers, and film producers. The gentleman behind this creative House is a guy named John Milkovisch.

Interesting Facts About Beer Can House

Initially, Milkovisch’s father constructed the bungalow in 1939, but the decoration started in 1968. As a former upholster on Southern Pacific Railroad, John Milkovisch decorated the House with approximately 50,000 beer cans. These cans include the ones that have covered other areas such as fences, trees, worksheds, and eaves.

The most exciting thing is that a significant percentage of the cans are the ones Milkovisch used to drink. Most of the cans are aluminum ones. It makes it one of the unique ways of recycling cans to create adorable art.

Moreover, the whole yard is covered with beautiful concrete. These concrete blocks are designed in a circle of marbles. The same concrete is the one that has a decorated rear sidewalk. When Milkovisch asked why concrete, he said he got tired of mowing the grass.

What Is Unique About the Interior?

Milkovisch allowed his wife Mary to do the decorations for the interior. The interior consists of a kitchen, dining room, breakfast nook, living room, utility area, three-bedroom, bath, and hallway. Mary displayed the lemon bottle juice tree, and in the backyard, she added a ceramic pot as the decoration. Nonetheless, to make it unique, she ensured that there was no interior can decoration.

Mary at the Beer Can House – Photo: © Martin Williams Agency, circa 1992
Mary and John at the Beer Can House – Photo: © J. Lomax “Folk Art in Texas”

Visitor’s Guide

When a person visits the Beer Can House, they can access the docent office, gift shop, tour information, donor wall, and restrooms. However, the most catchy thing in the front yard is a sign “Live by Golden Rule.” The silver letters mean that “do to others as you would like people to do for you.”