Houston House Covered with 50,000 Beer Cans Landmarked

Hard work honored as history.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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A hoarder's strange habit and love for beer has yielded an amazing result, as a famous Houston home adorned with an estimated 50,000 beer cans has been honored as a Texas landmark. 

Beginning in the 1970s, John Milkovisch started using the aluminum cans that he had stashed in his attic as wallpaper for the Memorial Park home. Milkovisch's wife, Mary, continued to reside at the home following his death in the 1980s, and her sons would occasionally replace rusted cans with fresh ones. They also installed a protective fence that was embedded with beer cans. 

Mary Milkovich passed away during the mid-1990s, but non-profit organization Orange Show Center for Visionary Art purchased the property about a decade ago with the intention of preserving it. The house was restored and opened to the public, much to their delight.

"It's totally grabbed me, and it's probably totally grabbed the imagination of more people than I could possibly imagine," said Houston resident Patrick Louque. The art center believes Milkovich and his wife drank roughly 50,000 cans of beer over a 20-year period, and Milkovich managed to cover the house with various beer cans in just under 18 months. Perhaps the most famous feature are the garlands, constructed using the tops of beer cans, that obstruct the home's front porch. They look glorious.

Now, his impromptu project has become a piece of Texas history.

[via The Huffington Post]

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