Thinking of going to Roswell in the hopes of spotting a UFO? Don’t bother, just head out to the southern coast of Puerto Rico where you’re guaranteed to see one. It may not be able to fly, but it’s bizarre shape and colorful decorations make it quite a sight.
58-year-old Roberto Sanchez Rivera has been planning his unique UFO house for about 40 years. In a perfect world, I’d be saying his inspiration for the project was love, but this is the real world and Roberto’s true motivation was sweet revenge. In his youth years, when he was just a dreamy, artistic student from a poor family, he courted a girl by sending her love notes decorated with drawings of UFOs, and telling her he would one day build a UFO-shaped house. Not the usual pick-up lines, that’s for sure, but he eventually made her his girlfriend, if only for just three months. After she broke off their relationship, the girl’s mother told Rivera it was because she thought he would never amount to anything in life. Rather than crying his heart out, drowning his sorrow in booze or burying himself in work, the man started plotting his revenge. The truth is he was so devastated that he even contemplated suicide, but then he said “No, I’m going to show her, this person, I’m going to work that much harder to show her who I am.”
Photo: New York Times
He studied industrial design and fine arts, thus earning the skills he needed to actually build the UFO house he bragged about to his ex-girlfriend, and even picked out the perfect location, on top of a hill near the highway, so if she would ever pass through there she couldn’t miss it. “He wanted to do it in a certain spot, so that if she were to travel she would see it day in and day out and regret those words,” Maria Martinez, Rivera’s current girlfriend told the New York Times. Although he eventually married another woman (whom he has since divorced) he never gave up on his dream of building the unusual residence. In 2002, he bought the piece of land in the southern part of Puerto Rico, for $95,000, and in a few years time he managed to fulfill his dream, building a $150,000 house using discount-store knickknacks and discarded auto parts.
Photo: New York Times
The craziest part of this story is Roberto Sanchez Rivera’s revenge plan actually worked. Although he wouldn’t reveal her identity, the ingenious builder says he once got a call from his ex-girlfriend, while he was still working on the house. She even came down for a tour of the unfinished living space and she was so impressed that she wanted to get back together with him. Only now, it was Rivera who was no longer interested. He had gotten the sweet revenge he had dreamed of for so many years.
Photo: Nice Decors
Now that the ugly goal has been met, Rivera can finally focus on the architectural wonder he has manged to create. The incredibly resourceful builder used every piece of scrap he could find and turned into a piece of decoration for his offbeat UFO house. Those metallic boxes on the flying saucer’s dome, which might be mistaken for some complex communications system are actually cheap ashtrays from the dollar store, and the light fixtures on the base of the house are $1,99 salad bowls. Inside, the living room shades are made from car seat belts, the fountain in the living room is made of old utensils, pots and pans, and many light fixtures are actually just refurbished old car parts.
Photo: Nice Decors
Roberto Sanchez Rivera told the New York Times that his house is about following your dreams and proving all the doubters wrong. He also pointed out “that you should never say to any human being, ‘You can never accomplish anything in life.’”
