Check Out the Wackiest Homes From HGTV's 'Zillow Gone Wild'

Actor and comedian Jack McBrayer's wacky humor landed him roles in shows and movies like 30 Rock, The Middle, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Now, he's at the helm of HGTV's Zillow Gone Wild, which is based on the ultra-viral Instagram account of the same name created by Samir Mezrahi. Throughout the series, Jack tours outrageous homes across America in an attempt to find the wildest one of them all. "You know you've done it, alone, at night, scrolling and scrolling looking for that one, perfect … real estate listing," Jack teases to kick-start every episode.

In the desert of Terlingua, Texas, stands a house with an airplane crashed into it. Technically, the $2.1 million house was built around the front of a 727 jet, but to the untrained eye it looks like someone made the best out of a horrible aeronautical accident. Jack got to check out the luggage compartment that was converted into a bedroom with 3-foot-tall ceilings. On the more luxurious end, he got to enjoy “first-class-leg-room economy seats” in the plane’s den. And the fully functional flight simulator in what used to be the “OG cockpit” now holds the title of “turducken of aviation.” Kind of redundant, don’t you think, Jack?

Anyone who spends $335,000 on a single used shoe must be out of their mind — that is, unless it has three bedrooms and is a historical landmark in York, Pennsylvania. Originally built to promote a local shoe store, stays at the Shoe Inn (get it?) used to be raffled off with purchases or gifted to newlyweds for their honeymoons. If you’re a fan of stained glass, you’ll love the stained-glass shoes on every window in the house. Jack got to check out the Ankle Abode: one of the three rooms alongside the Instep Suite and Shoelace Space. The current owners plan to keep the house functioning as a short-term rental property. Hopefully the second shoe never drops.

This town isn’t big enough for the both of us — but it is big enough for Carl, Mary and their seven children. Old Cow Town at Prior Ranch is a 28,715-square-foot replica of the 1880s in Saguache, Colorado. The 17 “official” buildings (what is an “unofficial” building, Mary?) include a church, dance hall and saloon where the family of nine eats all of their meals. Once Jack donned his cowboy uniform, they took him to a classic line dance, where he looked right at home. Maybe he’ll be invited the next time they host 50 people for a family reunion.

When David Bromstad shows up, you know things are about to get cinematic. Movie Manor in Reunion, Florida, was the perfect home for him to make a cameo appearance. An homage to the James Bond franchise, the house features an “adult playroom” with a pair of deconstructed Rolls-Royces as the functional seating for a home theater. What David separately dubbed the “playroom for adults” is a mini casino that prompted Jack to remind us that “gambling is a sin.” And so the adults don’t get to have all the fun, bedrooms dedicated to Encanto and How to Train Your Dragon make up two of the 13 in this $2.75 million, 6,333-square-foot home.

There’s sustainable living, and then there’s the Green Dream. Part of a community of off-the-grid eco homes in Taos, New Mexico, the exterior of this 2,000-square-foot, railroad-style home is constructed entirely of recycled materials: 15,000 cans, 4,000 bottles and 1,400 tires packed to the brim with dirt. Just two inches of rain (which is kind of a lot) can fill the four 1,700-gallon tanks to capacity, making Wi-Fi the only utility that LaNaeh has to pay for. And despite being surrounded by an absolute marvel of eco architecture, one thing grabbed Jack’s attention more than anything: her coffee plant.

Las Vegas is full of secrets — most of which you’re better off never knowing. But the $5.9 million underground mansion, also known as an “atomitat,” is a rabbit hole you’ll love to explore. Twenty-six feet beneath an unassuming home lies a 14,620-square-foot time capsule immortalizing a time when people would spend $10 million to build a bomb shelter resembling a suburban home (adjusted for inflation, that’s $50 million). Jack had the pleasure of spending a night there, waking up to artificial bird sounds, making breakfast in Barbie’s Dream Bomb Shelter Kitchen and enjoying the shade of trees that function as load-bearing pillars. He even got to benefit from the security of an intercom system linked to the front door so subterranean residents can see when their post-apocalyptic mutant neighbors come to visit. Maybe they’ll want to hop in the pool or play some mini golf.

When Jack approached the address of the Missile Silo House in a cornfield in York, Nebraska, he thought maybe he was in the wrong place — there was no noticeable home in sight. Turns out, it's underground. Down the steps, 50 feet belowground, Jack was met with a one-bedroom, one-bathroom, 1,256-square-foot abode — listed for $750,000. The structure, which features 9-foot-thick walls, was built in 1960 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Since it was pretty unlivable, Andrew, the buyer (and now seller), spent $150,000 renovating it.

The Snow White Cottage, located in Hollywood, California, is said to be the real-life inspiration for the famous fairy tale. After three months on the market, the two-bed, two-bath, 1,026-square-foot home sold to the current owner for $1.1 million — $50,000 under the asking price. One of the most striking characteristics of the idyllic, French art nouveau structure is its scaled-down features. The quaint windows, banisters, bridges and moats add extra whimsy throughout the home. "It might not be up to code," Jack joked after hobbling up the tiny stairs. "I'm not going to tell."

In St. Louis, Jack came across a home that looked anything but out of the ordinary from the exterior. Inside, however, a nostalgic '90s world sat waiting for him to discover. The owners, who listed the home for $599,000, described the three-bed, two-bath, 2,800-square-foot house as the "Midwest version of Pee-wee's Playhouse." Suffice to say, Jack was a fan. "Walking up … I'm thinking, 'charming farmhouse,' and then you open the door into the most beautiful fever dream you've ever experienced," he said. The entire home is decked out with color, tile mosaics, artwork and framed albums. It's an artistic, musical wonderland.

“This is either a house or a Bundt cake,” said Jack as he approached the neighborhood standout in Kalamazoo, Michigan. When Bill and Linda purchased the land, it was one measly dome overgrown with vines. Over the past 40 years, the two have added six interconnected domes; each one 16 feet tall with its own dedicated purpose. If you want to watch a movie, the den is in Dome 5. Hungry? Slide on over to Dome 7. Need to get back to work to earn the $1.3 million necessary to buy the house? The office is in Dome 6. And if you want to use a bathroom without a ceiling, that’s in Dome 3.

Jack headed to Las Vegas to explore The Motor Lodge, a vintage automotive wonderland listed at $2.5 million. The three-bed, three-bath, 3,038-square-foot home resembles a real-life set of what you'd see in the animated movie Cars. As if the home's exterior isn't impressive enough with its many cars on display, the interior features seemingly endless motor memorabilia, including 20 desert motorcycles, framed vintage car art, antique license plates, retro cars, gas station signs and more. "Steve is a fascinating human being — he's clearly a collector, but he's also an artist. Everything is done so thoughtfully," said Jack.

Jack traveled to Riverdale, Nebraska, to see the Schoolhouse in person. "[It's] not a house that looks like a school but an actual school that got turned into a house," he clarified. Purchased for $327,000, the 10,892-square-foot schoolhouse — which was operated as an actual school from 1938 to 2013 — features eight rooms and three bathrooms. "It smells like a school, with all due respect," Jack chuckled during the walk-through. The wildest part is that the buyer's family actually all went to school there.

The Outside-In House is a resort-style, single-family home in Palmdale, California. Listed for $1.5 million, the 6,000-square-foot home features five bedrooms and seven bathrooms. From the exterior, the '70s-inspired home appears to have six floors thanks to a series of terraced rooftops. In reality, there are just two. California-based architect J. Herbert Brownell designed the home with a tree-lined lap pool nestled in the entryway atrium. "I have never walked into a home where the first thing you see is a pool — that is making a statement, and I'm listening," Jack said.

Jack couldn't help but grin when touring the Ships Ahoy House in Las Vegas. Listed at $360,000, the 2,455-square-foot home showcases four bedrooms and three bathrooms. In a neighborhood of neutral stucco, it stands out with a high-contrast gray-and-red exterior, but the inside is where it really gets wild. As soon as Jack stepped through the front door, he was wowed by the surprising pirate ship-themed interior. He even felt as though he was in a ship at port, thanks to dueling paintings on either side of the home — one of the sea, the other of pylons the "ship" is tied to. The owners' bedroom strays from the ship theme and is instead decorated like a cattle yard. "It feels — and I mean this in the best way possible — like a theme park," Jack said.

In Alhambra, California, Jack ventured to meet the troll on top of the bridge. This house sits on a bridge above the Alhambra Wash, a structured tributary of the Rio Hondo River. Dwain, the owner of the 462-square-foot space, bought it for $180,000 above the $240,000 asking price. What drew him to the "bridge house of Los Angeles" was its history. As a retired history teacher, he couldn't resist.

Jack was a big fan of the Shabby Chic Creole Cottage in New Orleans built in 1860. Nestled in the Tremé neighborhood — the first all-Black neighborhood in America — the 4,226-square-foot cottage boasts an impressive five bedrooms and bathrooms. The current owner (a historic renovator) bought it for $20,000 in 2012, and after three years of renovation and $400,000 invested in the transformation, it's back on the market for a whopping $1.45 million. The home is decorated and designed to preserve as much history as possible, so while the interior looks rather shabby, it's all intentional and adds character — which is why the property has hosted several weddings. "The house looks like it's falling apart, but it is not," said Jack during the tour. "It's intended to look this way, and once you start walking around, you see, 'Oh! This is a comfortable home.'"

In pursuit of the wildest homes in America, Jack went to Berkeley, California, to see the Golden Sax House in real life. The contemporary home was recently purchased for $1.75 million, $247,000 under asking. The 4,083-square-foot home has four bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms and was designed by jazz saxophonist Henry Cotton to resemble his favorite instrument. Built in 1996, it's decked out in shades of black, white, tan and gold, giving it an undeniable retro-luxe feel. A key highlight of the home: The bottom, mid and top levels all feature outdoor spaces with stunning views of the Clairemont Hills.

A stop on Jack’s Floridian road trip landed him at Maritime Manor. What looks like a secluded water park is actually owner Margot’s dream retirement home. If anything can make a seafarer settle down on the shore, it’s this $1.2 million estate. When all three bedrooms in the 2,430-square-foot main house are occupied, guests have the privilege of staying in the houseboat docked in a man-made pond. The Chic Swamp Shack houses Harry the Hammerhead, a life-size shark made of waterproof resin that Margot definitely caught herself. Maritime Manor even has a memorial honoring everyone lost at sea.

Next stop: a 100-year-old Catholic-church-turned-home in St. Louis, founded in 1898 and closed in 2005. To give you a sense of its large size, at its peak the parish served 700 families. Now, it's an ad agency with an apartment space for the owners to live in. It boasts 16,988 square feet, nine bedrooms and five bathrooms, and is listed for $2.5 million. Its most interesting design statement? Reimagined, chopped-up pews for single-person seating.

In the San Fernando Valley, Jack stumbled upon Ornate Oasis, a “modest” abode designed with one person in mind: Alexander the Great. Despite growing up in Melbourne, Australia, this California home is a monument to the owner's Greek roots. Despite its Ancient Greek inspiration, the “production office” is adorned with “artifacts” from all over the world. A collection of swords and a model of an Egyptian sarcophagus are just a few of the decorations he can admire from his throne. Currently listed at $1.5 million, the owner hopes to sell the house with all of its furniture and decorations still intact. “I created this as a piece of art,” he said. “It would not be the same if people didn’t get it as is.”

The Mission to Mars House is an Earth dome located in Joshua Tree, California, just miles away from where Coachella takes place every year. The unique five-bedroom, three-bathroom, 1,339-square-foot home (which almost appears as hands coming out of the ground) is listed at $1.29 million. "It looks like I'm in Star Wars," Jack marveled. While the property features one main dome home, there's also The Village, made up of three smaller domes. Because of this, the Mission to Mars House is the ultimate vacation retreat, especially given its location. Fun fact: The dome home was actually designed to be livable in space.

The Storybook Castle looks straight out of a fairy tale, but it's a real-life structure situated in a quaint neighborhood in St. Louis. Listed for $640,000, the 3,043-square-foot castle has four bedrooms and four bathrooms, not to mention an entryway turret. The interior also features a wall of stained-glass windows, walls painted to look like stone and a full suit of armor, which the owner named Emmett. Speaking of who owns the unique home, the owner revealed it has been in his family for more than 70 years. It was first purchased in 1955, after being built in 1929.

This wild house sits at the top of a mountain in Santa Barbara, California. Once upon a time, though, it wasn't a home at all. From 1969 to 1972, it was the Cielo Store, a general store and gas station that also featured a restaurant and bar. Now, the 4,805-square-foot property boasts three bedrooms and three bathrooms and is listed for $2.5 million. The structure was built in the 1960s, but (intentionally) looks much older. The current owners added ample reclaimed wood and other special accents throughout. It was a salvage job they poured their hearts into. Now, they're ready for a new chapter.

Nestled in Joshua Tree, California, this ultra-colorful 1,028-square-foot home was purchased for $385,000. It features two bedrooms and two bathrooms and sits on a property nearly six times its size. "I was so worried I didn't have the right house," Jack joked about the bright exterior. "Oh yeah, it's really hard to see," one of the owners responded. Inside the home, a rainbow of bright hues covers the furniture and walls. In total, Jack counted 967 rainbow motifs throughout the house.

Jack traveled to Palm Springs, California, to take a peek at The Pink Palace, a 3,441-square-foot, three-bed, four-bath home listed for $2.8 million. The taffy pink, Hollywood Regency-style residence was built in 1964 and overlooks the San Jacinto Mountains. It's a historic Hollywood gem, designed by actress Magda Gabor and her husband, Tony Gallucci. In fact, the current owner purchased it for its old Hollywood pedigree and spent $175,000 renovating the place — though she made sure to maintain many of the original furnishings, particularly all the glam chandeliers. She hopes to find a buyer who values the home's past as much as she does.

This recently purchased Northern California home, located in the town of Placerville, is a neat freak's dream. Bought for $750,000, the 8,900-square-foot, five-bed, two-bath home looks normal at first glance, but then you notice the wild amount of storage it features. From 80 cabinets in the kitchen to 140 shelves in the office, there's no doubt this house stands out. In fact, when the current owners bought the home, there was even more storage — and they spent thousands gutting a lot of it to make room for functional furnishings like counter stools, windows and more.

Jack was wide-eyed when he set foot on the Stonehenge House property. Perched 6,237 feet above sea level in South Lake Tahoe, California, sits the 3,311-square-foot exposed boulder home. It's not surprising this resort-town find — complete with five bedrooms, four bathrooms and plenty of wow-worthy design elements — is listed at $2.29 million. The home is entirely built around boulders. As the owner tells the story, her parents bought the lot and sat atop one of the boulders, trying to imagine what to make of the land. Eventually, they decided to use the massive stone features to build their dream home. To ensure the home was safe from the elements, they sealed the boulder edges with concrete, creating a barrier against the outside world.

This Omaha, Nebraska, house looks a bit like a shiny retro roadside diner. The contemporary 4,972-square-foot home recently sold for $900,000. With its solid gray exterior, the four-bed, four-bath abode is deceiving from the outside. Inside, however, it's an industrial-mod home with glass walls, metal accents and jaw-dropping views from one end of the house to the other. "It's like nothing I've ever seen," Jack marveled.

Jack's jaw dropped when he walked through the front gate of the Whale House in Santa Barbara, California. Built in 1978, the three-bed, four-bath, 2,606-square-foot home is listed at $2.99 million. The home — with its curved architecture, heavily shingled exterior, artfully placed stained-glass windows and river rock archways — is meant to embody the anatomy of a whale and evoke the feeling of being swallowed by one. Upon entering the home, Jack found himself in what's referred to as the "blowhole": an open-air entryway with a staircase leading to the second and third levels, as well as a door to the main level. And the whale theme doesn't stop there. The rest of the interior features never-ending Venetian plaster to represent the whale's bones, a red-tiled primary suite shower and bath to illustrate the whale's heart and wavy stained-glass windows throughout to create the feel of being underwater.

On the outskirts of Lake Las Vegas sits the Fair Verona House, which, according to Jack, looks "downright Shakespearean." Listed at $3.95 million, the five-bed, six-bath, 5,639-square-foot home is not your average Zillow listing — it's a little slice of Italy in the Las Vegas desert featuring a cobblestone driveway, a bell tower instead of a doorbell and a picturesque, fountain-adorned courtyard. Situated around the courtyard are not one but five buildings: the main single-bedroom house, a standalone three-car garage and three separate casitas (or guesthouses), each measuring between 140 and 324 square feet. As if that's not impressive enough, the property itself was built and designed with materials sourced from all over Europe, so it's truly a piece of the continent here in the US.

The Flying Nun House is a "wild, untouched gem from the '70s" located in Bellevue, Nebraska. Named after the Sally Field show (The Flying Nun) from the '60s, the house takes on a unique tri-point silhouette that looks more like a community center than a home, as Jack pointed out. The four-bed, five-bath, 3,476-square-foot house, which is larger than it looks, sold for $320,000 (significantly lower than the $695,000 asking price). It was designed in 1971 to look like a house of the future. "It seems futuristic but throwback," Jack marveled.

You always know you've stumbled upon something special when stacked rocks (or cairns) mark the way. This time, they lead to a Las Vegas home decorated like a real-life comic book. Listed for $923,880, the 3,461-square-foot, three-bed, four-bath home (with an industrial feel and thoughtful color themes) is an ode to superheroes and villains alike. The key colors in the main living area are orange, purple and green — the Joker's signature palette. "It is so open, plus it's blocked out like a comic book," said Jack. "I see comic book panels everywhere."

Santa’s village may be all the way up in the North Pole, but Rob and Gerry’s Christmas village is a perfectly acceptable substitute for the people of Redmond, Washington. Built in the 1920s with lumber too short for telephone poles, their property has since transformed into an experience that made Jack feel like he’d been “punched in the face with Christmas.” Their home is full of Christmas decorations year-round, all of which are for sale. In addition to their living space, a dedicated shop stands on the property selling Christmas villages and nativities. In addition to the $1.9 million asking price of their home, the rights to the business and festive inventory add $270,000.

Dome sweet dome is what Phoenix and Max probably think every time they return to their secluded honeycomb-style house in Weaverville, North Carolina. Standing 35 feet high with stucco walls made of gold leaf and seashells, Honeycomb Hideaway is built to last up to 500 years with proper maintenance. The $3.5 million asking price includes rose-quartz-infused walls to encourage compassion, love and emotional healing for everyone who enters — whether on foot or by wing. Oh, yeah, there’s a beehive in their bedroom behind what Jack dubbed a “bee aquarium,” giving local honeybees a shelter they can fly into from outside whenever they please.