It’s simply known as the Beer Can House, but with good reason -- the Houston landmark is covered in more than 50,000 beer cans.

The Beer Can House is a folk art gallery/workshop and former home of “artist” John Milkovisch, who, according to legend, after years of drinking got the bright idea that the cans would make good siding for his house.

The story goes that Milkovisch, a retired upholsterer for the Southern Pacific Railroad, started the project in 1968 when he began decorating his patio with pieces of brass, marbles, rocks and buttons, which can still be seen today. After this came the front and back yards, which he covered because he was “sick of mowing the grass.” He then turned his sights on the house itself and began adding aluminium siding – from his collection of beer cans.

The house soon disappeared under a cover of flattened beer cans, while garlands made of cut cans hanging from the rooftop made the house sing. According to Ripley’s Believe It or Not, it’s estimated that more than 50,000 cans adorn this monument to recycling.

When asked why he did it, Milkovisch once replied, “Something to do.”

According to Stephen Bridges of Houston’s Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, Milkovisch was a man who liked two things – “working with his hands and drinking beer.”

It’s said Milkovisch considered the project an enjoyable pastime rather than a work of art. “I don’t consider this art. It’s just a pastime. But sometimes I lie awake at night, trying to figure out why I do it.”

He once said, “It tickles me to watch people screech to a halt. They get embarrassed. Sometimes they drive around the block a couple of times. Later they come back with a car-load of friends…”

Milkovisch drank a lot of beer, and with help from his wife Mary, worked on the house for 18 years. His favourite beer was always “whatever’s on special.”

“John thought beer cured everything,” Mary said after John died.

Cans, bottles, marbles and metal trinkets adorn essentially every inch of the property, which is particularly magical in the early morning and late afternoon sunlight.

In 2001, the Orange Show Foundation and its team of folk art preservationists purchased the property with plans to preserve the house for future generations and convert the interior into a public exhibition space to tell Milkovisch’s and the house’s story. In 2005, the foundation received a $125,000 Houston Endowment grant to repair and restore the house and by March 2008, the restoration was complete.

The Beer Can House, located at 223 Malone (off Memorial Drive), is now open for visitors Saturdays and Sundays.