El Paso, Texas: The Sugar House: Folk Art Confection

Rufino Loya labored for decades to make his yard pretty enough to please his wife. Its colorful, giddy ornamentation was inspired by colonial Mexican churches. He took it as far as possible, and then some more.

House of Sugar: Lovely place. Worth the detour.

We went to see the La casa de azcar AKA The House of Sugar. This is someone's home!

While we were walking around and taking photos of the house, the owner came out. Rufino has been working on his house for 20 plus years. He's retired from Levi's. If you are smart you'll introduce yourself and allow him to walk with you and see the outside of the house. He talked about himself when we asked questions, and he was kind enough to translate the plaques to English, as my friend and I don't speak Spanish. I'd say he looks for visitors. Nobody builds a house like this and then doesn't want people to see it. Random strangers and weirdos stop to photograph his home all day long so it's awesome that he comes out to join you.

He has a tiny suggested donation can which helps with upkeep. The place requires a lot of pain and touch up to keep it looking nice. He said a donation was not necessary, but I gave him $10 to help with future upkeep and as a thank you for the pleasant conversation and impromptu tour.

On our way there this place was a running joke, but once we arrived it was amazing! The work that was put into it is truly incredible. We had the chance to meet the owner who was kind enough to take us on a tour around his creation and talked in great detail about how he made everything. For those inspired, he does take donations to help pay for the upkeep.

A previous Roadside America tipster commented on the owner/artist of this creation as a little creepy. We just left this location, it was amazing! The owner was out tinkering on dabbing paint here and there and was very nice. He was happy to discuss his work, the length of time on the project...very nice man.