Nearly $50,000 on Catwalks: Inside a Home Built Around Rescue Cats

Finding the perfect home can be difficult, especially if your home needs special features. Most houses aren't built with a cat's climbing routes in mind. Luckily, some people can make interior design magic, and Peter Cohen's home has plenty of it.

Read along to see how he turned an ordinary house into a cat paradise, one room and walkway at a time.

An Ordinary Looking House

Peter Cohen bought his house in 1988, according to the House of Nekko website. It was an ordinary-looking California home with plenty of room for some rather unusual renovation plans.

From the outside, Peter's house looks like just another beige two-story house on the block. Inside, it became a cat paradise. The price? In 2014, he told Houzz the catwalks had cost about $35,000–$45,000 since 1995. That's the historical estimate behind our nearly $50,000 headline, not a bill for the entire house or what the work would cost today.

A Different Welcome

What seems like an ordinary house becomes extraordinary the moment the front door is opened. A lush green entrance surrounded by plants and, of course, cats is an inviting first impression.

The contrast between green and brown wood makes the place feel cozy, and leafy painted branches cover the walls. There is a winding ladder beside the door, so the cats can peek out the window, enjoy the view, or watch a visitor come through the door. One is already perched up there in the photograph.

Room for Everyone to Relax

Amenities such as cat beds are spread throughout the house, but the living room looks especially cozy. All of the sofas are inviting for both cats and humans. In this photo, though, the cats have claimed quite a few of the available sleeping spots.

The walls and furniture mix warm yellow, pale green, and light blue. Nothing matches exactly, but the colors work together. You can see a television and a fireplace among the beds and cushions, so this is still very much a room for people, too.

Routes Above the Hallway

The hallway looks like a tiny jungle, with plants tucked around the doorways and artwork on the walls. There are so many leaves in this view that you could almost miss the little steps beside the wrapped post. Peter's cats have their own way through here.

Throughout the rooms, there are passageways and staircases built for cats. In the hallway, the green walkway crosses above a large doorway while the floor below stays clear. Look closely and you can follow the route upward, past the plants and pictures.

A Bedroom With Company

Peter's bedroom fits right in with the rest of the house. The pale green walls, yellow bedding, and quirky artwork carry the same colors and personal touches into a quieter room. Even the mirror gives you another view of the pictures hanging nearby.

Home is meant to be a place where you can be yourself, and Peter's rooms certainly look personal. Of course, the bedroom isn't exempt from the cat-friendly details. Look above the bed and you can see more steps and ledges, continuing around the upper walls.

Even the Bathroom

This is hardly an ordinary bathroom. There are green railings, little staircases, and walkways up above the sinks, with a round mirror below them. The cats have quite a route around the room without ever going near the floor.

The light green and pale yellow paint make this space feel bright, helped by the skylight overhead. Following the lead of the other rooms, plants and artwork make the bathroom feel personal. There's even a yellow platform tucked up beneath the skylight, above the bathroom fixtures.

The Office Spiral

The office room is far from ordinary. It has the usual things you'd expect, like a comfy chair, a PC, and cabinets, but there's also an enormous spiral cat scratcher right in front of the desk.

One cat is standing halfway up it in this picture. There's still room for the office furniture behind it, although the cat is much easier to spot than the computer.

The View From Above

Peter's cats have a whole row of seats near the ceiling. In this photo, one has a paw hanging down over the ledge, while the others are lined up behind. You might walk right underneath them without noticing if you didn't look up.

There are loads of high spaces in this house, with ladders and pathways to get to them. But it's nice to see the cats actually using one. The green shelf isn't empty decoration here; it's already occupied, just above the doorway.

Making the Walls Count

It's not unusual to find a cat staring from above at Peter's house, which is definitely part of this lovely residence's charm. This black cat has found a spot right above the doorway, on a curved green walkway.

The bright orange wall and green woodwork fit right in with the other rooms we've seen. And the cat doesn't seem at all out of place up there, with the open doorway right underneath its little resting spot.

A Shared Home

Peter isn't only a cat lover with a beautiful, unusual house; he's someone who has made room for rescue cats over the years. House of Nekko’s own account tells the story of those adoptions and the changes he made at home.

Here he is beside some of those steps, with cats perched nearby. The other half of the photograph shows another view of the spiral ramp. After all these rooms, it's nice to see Peter back in the picture, sharing the house with the cats who live there.