March 3rd, 2008 
Perhaps you thought houseboats were going out of style? Au contraire, sea levels are rising and coastal populations are increasing, so the land is disappearing while the density of residents grows. Life on the water seems like the perfect solution for some people, especially in Europe, where floating home designers are enjoying a renaissance.
Some countries, like Amsterdam, have a significant number of people living below sea level already, so Dutch and German designers are hoping to take their modern floating homes to the bank. American urban epicenters like Los Angeles, Seattle, and Washington DC currently support large communities of houseboat residents, but most of those floating units are more “traditional”, you might say.
Of course, if you’re planning to live on the water, you’d be a fool not to take advantage of a submerged deck for cocktails, lounge, and dining amidst the surrounding ocean life. Two floating houseboat designs are on the market, the modular Trilobus 65 (voted Best of the Blog in 2006) and the elegant Jelly-Fish 45, a 45 foot high steel and glass beehive with 5 stories connected by a spiral staircase. If you happen to be a billionaire, you might be particularly interested in the latter, which is a steal at 2.5 million bucks. We’re thinking the Jellyfish 45 would be just perfect for the new DSN Headquarters in Dubai.
Hat tip to Weburbanist for their exhaustive review of 17 Extreme Houseboat Designs.
Awesome. What career is the fastest route to $2.5 million? (Although when I place my order, for sure I would discuss the lack of a loveseat in the observation deck.)
Harvesting jellyfish and convincing the sushi eaters that it tastes better than tuna ;-).
And best of all, from the right angle it looks sort of like a giant, mostly submerged R2-D2!
Fernando’s not kidding. An asian restaurant here in Silver Spring, MD is selling jellyfish appetizers for $7.50.