TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – John Moll has been under the impression that something doesn’t need to be in a museum to be considered a piece of art.

“Sometimes, you just see something that you can’t live without,” Moll said.  “And you just got to acquire it.”

He has spent his life finding, picking and buying.

His overflowing property on North Lynn Avenue in Seminole Heights is a testament to his overflowing imagination.

There’s a dragon, a crab, a fish sculpture, even a toilet that he considers a masterpiece.

“Well, it’s art. I think people who understand art, can see art there,” Moll said.

Most people understand.  But recently, there was at least one person who saw the home as an eyesore and that person called Tampa Code Enforcement.

“It was a zoning question on whether the condition of that house was within the codes of the City of Tampa,” said Sal Ruggiero, manager of the Neighborhood Enhancement Division.

Code enforcement officers and a city attorney stopped by and looked over the property and said it was within city rules.

“It has now come to the point, where, I think, that they’ll accept art as not being a violation,” Moll said.

People in the neighborhood accept it, too.

“I find it very interesting,” said neighbor Belinda Montgomery.  “But I understand people who own homes and how it might depreciate their property value.”

Moll recently bought a house across the street and wasted no time sprucing it up to his liking.

His pieces may not be the Mona Lisa, the Scream or a Van Gogh, but the 78-year-old certainly doesn’t need a canvas to make a lasting impression.

“The yard itself is my favorite.  It’s an art yard.  You can have yard art or you can have an art yard.  So this is an art yard,” he said.

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