The house of the century

We all have places from our childhood that stand out more than others

Check out this wild, and very (intentionally) phallic house, located just outside of Houston, on a private body of water known as Mojo Lake. It was built by my aunt Marilyn (not a real aunt, but a Southern-style one) in the early 1970s, and conceived by a hippie architecture collective known as The Ant Farm. Marilyn was an art collector and patron who always followed her instincts, and her instincts were pretty stellar: right around the time this house was built, she purchased two paintings by a then-lesser-known painter named Frida Kahlo for around $50,000 each, and a Diego Rivera self-portrait too.

Her home in Houston was an art-filled funhouse—there was an entire room devoted to an Edward Kienholz, then also a John Chamberlain or two, and a vintage 50s photo booth in the living room, a gift from one of the guys in ZZ Topp, who Marilyn dated after splitting up with our uncle Alvin. The house was in Houston’s fanciest and most uptight neighborhood, River Oaks, right on River Oaks Boulevard, and Marilyn planted pink flamingos on her front lawn not long after moving in. I always loved her for that. She was and remains one of the most interesting people in Houston: that city’s Art Car Parade and Orange Show both largely owe their continued existence to Marilyn’s efforts. She was a huge influence on my young self.