Bless This Mess: Visiting the Cathedral of Junk in Austin, Texas
It’s no secret that Austin, Texas is home to the weird. Just spend a Sunday at Chicken Shit Bingo, and you’ll see what I mean. Well, Cathedral of Junk is another oddity that feels right at home in Austin. It’s a structure you can walk through, and it’s made entirely of…well, junk. It’s actually in someone’s backyard, and it’s donation-based. All you have to do is let the owner know you’re coming over, and he’ll let you in!
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Cheeeese!
Cathedral of Junk Details
Where? At a man named Vince’s house. 4422 Lareina Dr, Austin, TX 78745 Call him at 512-299-7413.
When? When Vince is home and up for showing it
Why? Simply because he thought it was cool. Gotta love that complete lack of pretension.
My Experience
I gave Vince a call before I drove out to South Austin to tour the Cathedral. You don’t exactly need an appointment, but you’ll want to call ahead to make sure he’s home and is letting people in. He asked that I park a little up the street so as not to bother the neighbors. After all, this structure is located in his suburban backyard.
And the neighbors can be quite grumpy. Apparently, Vince has dealt with people complaining the entire time he’s had the Cathedral (since 1989!) So it’s important to be mindful that you’re in a neighborhood.
If you ask me, Vince has life figured out. People pay him to visit his backyard–the ultimate work-from-home job.
Whoaaaaa…
The Cathedral isn’t just random junk–everything is placed just so, and it’s an actual three-level structure you can tour. Each “room” has a theme. and is grouped together in a way that makes sense, whether it’s by color or something else, like the TV pile.
The Yellow Room
TV pile
You could get some ideas for your own backyard…
If you’ve ever made a fort out of old boxes, or something like that, you’ll get it. I grew up in the country, and we always had junk lying around. Not all of it was our junk–some of it had been there since God knows when. Like the old refrigerator in the brush pile that my mom always told me was going to be “hauled off.”
I always wanted to play in that junk, but I was never allowed But if I could have, it would have been really cool to create something like this–not to this scale of course. My clubhouse.
Everything is just so neat…
People have weddings at the Cathedral as well as bachelorette parties and whatever else. Maybe you will too, or at least have a favorite room or something.
It’s 3 levels!
Final Thoughts on Cathedral of Junk
Cathedral of Junk is worth visiting if you’re into weird Austin stuff and have an appreciation for junk that’s well-put-together. If this doesn’t sound like something you’d “get,” though, move along!
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