NORFOLK, Va. — We’ve all seen dog houses before, most of them are simple, four walls and a roof with a little opening for your furry friend to enter and exit.
But I bet you have never seen dog houses like these before! They're more like dog homes...
This is the Barkitecture exhibit, which is calling the Norfolk Botanical Garden its home until October. This is a one-of-a-kind, very clever fundraising venture by the gardens that brings in groups and challenges them to put on their creative hats with designer dog houses.
“Organizations and companies just went very very creative. They just went to town on these dog houses,” said Kelly Welsh of Norfolk Botanical Garden.
Some of these homes took some serious man-hours to put together and build. One of the dog houses is going green with solar panels, while another, called "Da Vinci's Doghouse," even includes some sketches from the genius on the front tiled entry.
IKEA, which is new to the neighborhood, decided to get involved as well, while another one from the City of Norfolk is multi-storied. Bentley found himself getting a bit too comfortable inside a fully-furnished house that came courtesy the Chrysler Museum.
If you come across one that your dog takes a particular liking to, you can actually own it!
“You can purchase one of the houses for your dog. We have bidding and we have voting. You can pick one out for your dog,” Welsh told 13News Now.
The money raised from the auction will help support the Norfolk Botanical Garden.
The exhibit is open daily and your pups can visit on Sundays.