In the mid­dle of the twen­ti­eth cen­tu­ry, busi­ness­man George Prater decid­ed to build a house. I chose a place on a hill­side, bought land, but could not erect a build­ing. The house came out crooked, although the draw­ings were cor­rect, and the builders were sober. It turned out that the laws of physics were vio­lat­ed on the hill: balls roll up an inclined plane, a broom stands with­out sup­port, water flows upwards, peo­ple stand in an inclined posi­tion. Sci­en­tists say that these are noth­ing more than opti­cal illu­sions, but many tend to see a mys­ti­cal trace in what is hap­pen­ing.