HOUSTON – Sue Shefman’s obsession with hippos started at age 8 when she watched Disney’s “Fantasia” and saw Hyacinth the Hippo dancing with Ben Ali Gator.
Decades later, Shefman’s Memorial-area house was recently one of eight stops on a “Weird Homes of Houston” tour.
Shefman has about 2,000 hippo-related items in her home, including stuffed animals, piggy banks, toilet paper holders, jewelry, paintings and figurines.
“They are all over my house,” Shefman said. “They started in my kitchen, and when I got a great big one, they just sort of herded themselves out of the house and all over the house.”
She keeps a giant hippo statue in her bathtub, and she has a hippo-painted bathroom sink.
Her backyard garden is also filled with hippo fountains and benches.
The fun doesn't stop @KPRC2 #hippohouse #Houston pic.twitter.com/KOd0nZRA2j
— Samantha Ptashkin (@SamanthaKPRC) February 9, 2017
But perhaps Shefman’s biggest Houston attraction is her red car, which is made to look like a hippo.
It comes equipped with blinking headlights that look like eyes and a tail in the back. She shows it off at Houston’s Art Car Parade.
“I would say my car is the favorite because I get so much fabulous reaction from it,” Shefman said. “Hippos make me smile. Different people like different things about them, and I happen to like their rear ends. I think their rear ends are cute!”
She has so much stuff she had to stop collecting about eight years ago.
For the past 17 years, Shefman has been a member of the Hippolotofus -- The International Hippo Society, an international group of hippo collectors.
“It started through eBay,” Shefman said. “We’re online and we now have about 2,000 members, ages 8 to 80."
Last fall, Shefman’s home was one of eight to be featured in the first annual “Weird Homes of Houston” tour.
She welcomes visitors.
To check out the other weird Houston homes, click here.
To check out the “Hippalotofus Society,” click here.