Getting washed ashore and permanently grounded doesn't have to mean the end of the line for a seafaring vessel. Some, like the Florida Keys houseboat-turned-beach house of hotelier Conrad Hilton, go on to command multi-million-dollar asking prices, while other decommissioned boats get turned into rad cliffside homes. Now, things didn't go down quite like that for this restaurant at Espejo De Luna, an eco-resort in Chile, but it's still got the Rocky-esque look of a winner. Built inside the shell of a landlocked boat, it plays on the same odd, Fred Astaire ceiling-dance associations as the many avant-garde examples of purposefully tipped-over houses.
With an exterior clad in locally sourced timber, the cafe looks like it could've been simply built to look like a wayward schooner. Details are scant on the history of the vessel, but according to Inhabitat, it's now part of a resort complex in Isla Chiloe, Chile, that also comprises four wood cabins, and received the sustainable tourism stamp of the National Service of Tourism of Chile in December 2013. So hop to it, eco-tourists.
· Espejo De Luna Eco-Hotel Restaurant is Set Inside a Grounded Island Boat [Inhabitat]
· All boat coverage [Curbed National]
· Architectural absurdity archives [Curbed National]