Man spends 33 years building house decorated with seashells

Xiao Yongsheng, a resident from Lingshan Island in east China’s Shandong Province, spent 33 years constructing a traditional Chinese house decorated with more than 1 million seashells collected from all over the world.

Large seashells on the house. (Photo/thepaper.cn)

The unique house has emerged as one of the most popular tourist attractions on the island. “I just wanted to build a shell house so that if one day those children who left our island to further their studies came back, they could see how different their home island has become,” said Xiao, who hopes to use the shell-themed house to display the history of the island and the daily life of local fishermen.

For this self-taught architect in his 50s, the most daunting task in the construction of this house was the collection of seashells. Every morning and evening during the past 30 years, Xiao would take time picking up shells of different sizes and varieties on beaches, most of which were decorated on the external wall of the shell house. Meanwhile, some large shells inlaid on top of the roof were bought by Xiao from abroad at a high price.

An exterior view of the shell-themed house. (Photo/thepaper.cn)

Compared with the 1 million seashells actually utilized in the construction, the actual number collected by Xiao was more than quintuple. However, due to their broken edges, inconsistent colors and other reasons, the remainder of them were never adopted for use as construction materials. “The selection of the right shells is meticulous work,” Xiao recalled.

Xiao took into consideration the color, type, size, spiral-shaped patterns and even the meaning of the shells during the design of the house.

Large seashells on the house. (Photo/thepaper.cn)

“These are American red scallops. The windows covered with them are beautiful,” introduced Xiao, adding that the number of shells utilized was calculated with great care and precision.

In building such a house covering an area of 1,500 square meters, Xiao integrated different architectural styles, namely traditional Chinese styles and Western island styles, with a small circular room in between implying the harmony and unity of the two cultures.

“You must be fully dedicated if you want to achieve something, otherwise you won’t be able to do anything well,” said Xiao. After spending all of his savings on building this house, Xiao now leads a simple life. However, he has never expressed any regret about his decision.

An exterior view of the shell-themed house. (Photo/thepaper.cn)

“Lingshan Island is isolated and its population of less than 3,000 people is decreasing. I want to attract more tourists with this shell house,” said Xiao, adding that he would devote the rest of his life enriching the building and turning it into a real museum displaying the history of his hometown. 

An exterior view of the shell-themed house. (Photo/thepaper.cn)

Seashell decorations on the wall. (Photo/thepaper.cn)

Seashell decorations on the wall. (Photo/thepaper.cn)

Seashell decorations on the wall. (Photo/thepaper.cn)

Seashell decorations on the walls. (Photo/thepaper.cn)