Urban high-rises and traditional suburban homes have become a type of American formality. Yet around the world, there are many buildings in unconventional, extraordinary places.

Take a look at some of the most unique building locations from around the globe.

With a “For Rent” sign on hanging on its railing, the “Wave Breaker” was one of the seaside buildings placed on the beaches of North Carolina, far too close to the coastline. It has now been restored and moved further up inland, to a more ordinary space.

Flickr user Don McCullough

Now the symbol of Vernon, this unusually placed timber construction was even visited and painted by Claude Monet. It was probably built in the 16th Century, originally straddling the Seine River on a wooden bridge that, after being destroyed several times, was replaced by a stone bridge in the 19th Century.

Wikipedia Commons/Pablo Altes

Around 600 sandstone and mud mortar constructions made up this Ancestral Puebloan village which was occupied until about 1300. They are found under an overhang on a cliff, at an altitude of 2600 meters. Since 1978, the site has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Wikimedia Commons/Andres F. Borchert

Housing a total of five floors, Jal Mahal Palace sits in an artificial lake in Jaipur. When the lake is full, four of the palace’s floors are concealed underwater. Before restorations conducted in the early 2000s, the palace walls were so water-logged that water would seep through.

Flickr/Arian Zwegers

Due to the fact that large parts of Ravenna were originally marshland, the crypts of the Basilica de San Francesco are slowly filling up with water. Or in other words, sinking. Seeing as there is no way to avoid the situation, the crypt is now home to some goldfish and the occasional duck enjoying the water.

Wikimedia Commons/José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro