1 / 7
cliffside homes
The act of carving a home rather than building one, inspired by the idea of being one with nature, or more likely, Batman's tricked out cave lair, has made cave homes coveted by all types of humans, from ancient peoples to modern-day celebrities.
It's that universal appeal that makes architecture hewn from rock come in such an array of tastes and textures, from hand-carved ancient temples to strange, Flintstone-like abodes of modern-day media personalities.
Take as another example this rock-embedded dwelling in Moab, Utah, which was formed from a massive slab of sandstone and is one of many cliffside homes of a plural-marriage Mormon community founded some 35 years ago to provide asylum for what had become a fringe group.
Click ahead for more examples.
Leaving all "between a rock and a hard place" references aside, flip through the images here for amazing examples of rocky architecture, both old and modern. By Amy Schellenbaum, Curbed