Artist Johnny DeFeo Builds Rentable Coyote-Shaped House in New Mexico Desert

Artist Johnny DeFeo has realized a giant coyote-head-shaped rental house, The Trickster (also known as Coyote Casita), in Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico, after winning an Airbnb OMG! Fund competition in June 2022. The 30-foot-tall concrete structure, built with sculptor Jacob Tobar of Mas Rústico, features a jaw-like entrance, a balcony on the nose, and interiors resembling a traditional New Mexican adobe home with mud-plaster walls and rounded corners. DeFeo, a New Mexico-based artist and Wallpaper* US400 honoree, conceived the idea in a dream six years ago after visiting a property near Vallecitos. The project received $100,000 from Airbnb's OMG! Fund, which sought proposals for unusual rental properties. Over 30 tonnes of concrete and countless rebar lengths were used. The house includes a loft bedroom, a kitchenette with terrazzo counters, and DeFeo's paintings of coyotes. He plans to build four more animal-shaped houses (rabbit, doe, bear, fox) and hopes the project inspires other artists to pursue unconventional ideas.