High Five: 5 unusual ways of living in Europe

In the middle of the forests of southern Sweden, on the shore of Lake Övre Gla, hides a house well adapted to its surroundings. It looks like a mythical creature and it even moves. It can be pulled apart like an accordion. The outer surface consists of cedar wood shingles and is modeled after a fish skin.

The villa offers 100 percent privacy in the front. In fact, there is not a single window that curious strollers could look into. But at the back, with a view of the garden, there are large glass windows with lots of light pouring into the rooms. This family is living their dream with this unusual building.

For architect Jakub Szczesny, there's no such thing as a space problem in a metropolis. It's all about finding solutions. In the Polish capital Warsaw, he squeezed a house into the tiniest of gaps. Its width is only two arm lengths. The architect himself rarely lives in it, but prefers to rent it out instead. Most people can't stand it for too long.

The Till family lives where they work. Thomas and Monika Till have been running a garden nursery near Dresden for many years. They had their dream house built directly into a large greenhouse. Commuting to work could hardly be any shorter and they can sit in their own garden in all kinds of weather.

In the harbor of the Dutch city of The Hague, one would normally expect to see a houseboat rather than a feed silo. German architect Jan Körbes designed his little masterpiece out of bulky refuse. If you are rich in imagination, you don't have to spend much on your own home. There are hardly any normal pieces of furniture in the feed silo either. They are all custom-made from scrap metal.