Dan Phillips Builds Enchanting and Affordable Houses from Recycled Materials

‘One man's rubbish is another man's gold’ and Dan Phillips has proven that age old truism through his construction business <a title="Dan Phillips Creates Unique Affordable Houses From Recycled Random Scrap" href="http://www.phoenixcommotion.com/" target="_blank">Phoenix Commotion</a>. A trained architect from Huntsville, Texas, Mr. Phillips helps people build their own affordable dream homes with <a title="Dan Phillips Creates Unique Affordable Houses From Recycled Random Scrap" href="http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=recycled" target="_blank">recycled materials</a> that most people would consider useless. Up until now, he has helped construct 14 houses, each of which have welcomed low-income, first-time buyers to the world of home ownership.

One of the happy home owners, helped build her own pad from recycled wood and other discarded materials.

To build these wonderful and enchanting homes -- often made up of 75+% of recycled materials -- Mr. Phillips and his builders use what is available to them locally. This ranges from scrap wood leftovers, mismatched bricks and tiles, bottle tops and corks, to even bones he's collected from a nearby cattle yard.

One of Huntsville’s houses, the Bone House, has a complete range of furniture made from cattle bones, like these customized quirky table and chairs that comes with a spine.

One of the most whimsical homes in the area has to be The Story Book House. Inspired by children’s stories that Mr. Phillips used to read as a kid, this Normandy-style home has a unique stripy rooftop.

A rusty door handle has been given a second chance at one of the house´s doors.

The wooden door is decorated with colored bottles’ ends, acting as stained glass and welcoming visitors with a classy recycled style.

When the Plant Environment needed an extra shelter, owner Clyde Lavelle commissioned Mr. Phillips to help him make a structure with recycled aluminum soft drink cans that where flattened and folded, making a recyclable and decorative façade.

The roof of the License Plate House is entirely made from discarded plates collected from the Texas tax office, which like mirrors, reflect the sun’s radiant energy back into space, helping cooling the house through out the hot arid summers.

Inside the house a floor covered with hundreds of different colors bottles’ tops make use of creative reuse exposing a cute illustration of some kind of animal.

The first house built by Mr. Phillips is also probably the most gorgeous one. The Tree House is located thirty-five feet above the ground on top of a Bois d’arc tree and consists of a complete main house, a working art studio and a large patio area.

The house also features a cork floor and is mainly built from scrap wood and tree branches.

One of the most striking features of the Tree House, however, is the arty recycled frame ceiling salvaged from a shop that was getting rid of its old frame samples.

As well as amazing views to the lush treetops, the house features a shiny wall decoration made from broken mirrors that reflect the light coming in from the many circular windows of the house.