Colmar head house

Look to your right to spot a towering, golden-yellow stone building featuring a highly decorated, wavy triangular roofline and a prominent, protruding central window. Just a short walk from the Unterlinden Museum, you are now standing in front of the famous House of Heads. Built in 1609, this Renaissance masterpiece was the passion project of a wealthy merchant named Anton Burger. Anton actually demolished his own father's house to clear the space for this grand statement piece. He clearly wanted everyone to know who lived here, placing his family coat of arms right on the facade.

But the building's true fame comes from its bizarre decoration. Take a close look at the facade, especially around the oriel, which is that projecting bay window in the center. Clustered along the stone framework and the vertical dividers between the glass panes are exactly one hundred and six carved faces. These grotesque masks are called mascarons, an architectural feature originally meant to scare away evil spirits. You might also notice that the windows themselves are surprisingly asymmetrical, with different widths and irregular placements, adding to the slightly chaotic charm of the design.

Sadly, Anton's time in his dream home was cut short. The Counter-Reformation, a fierce movement to restore Catholic dominance in the region, forced him to flee to Switzerland. In 1698, his heirs sold the property for fifteen hundred Thalers. A Thaler was a heavy silver coin, and that sum was a substantial fortune, roughly equivalent to about fifty thousand dollars today. The building eventually became the headquarters for the city's Wine Exchange. If you look all the way up to the very top peak of the roof, you will spot a small pewter statue of a cooper, or barrel maker. That little guy was added in 1902 and was actually sculpted by Auguste Bartholdi, one of Colmar's most famous citizens.

Today, this beautiful, quirky building survives as a luxury hotel and a Michelin-starred restaurant, keeping the grand merchant's legacy very much alive. Take a moment to see how many of those stone faces you can count. When you are ready, we can head to the next stop.