You
know the old adage, “People who live in
glass houses shouldn't throw stones,” but have you ever wondered why
someone would even build a glass house?
Bottle
houses became popular in the early 1900, especially out in the western U.S.
where wood was scarce. Many structures of the time were constructed using what
items were at hand and that included beer and whiskey bottles.
Here
are five great examples of some unique bottle houses.
1)
Palace Oz, Chelyabinsk, Russia
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Photo Valery Zvonarev
|
This
is the house that Hamidullah Ilchibaev built – from champagne bottles: over
12,000 of them. It took 52-year-old Ilchibaev over three years to collect the empty
bottles from local restaurants, the rest he purchased. He built the house by stacking
the bottles as you would bricks, starting with the foundation and insulating
between the bottles for added warmth. The windows are inset to accommodate the
bottles width, but the inside the home looks like any other. Ilchibaev said
that it cost five times less to build with bottles than with regular building
materials.
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| Hamidullah Ilchibaev |
Ilchibaev
said he constructed the house as a tribute to his 18-year-old son who died
tragically. Once completed, he gave the 1,000 square feet home to his
eldest son and daughter-in-law for a wedding present. How fitting!
2) Tom Kelly’s Bottle House,
Rhyolite, Nevada
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| Tom Kelly's Houses 1906 |
It was 1905 when Tom Kelly decided
to build himself a house. Living in the Nevada desert ruled out building with
wood; too expensive to have hauled in. Kelly was a simple man and he wanted a
simple house so he collected over 50,000 beer and patent medicine bottles to
construct his three room L-shaped home. With over four-dozen taverns in the
town, Kelly had a ready supply of bottles to begin. It took about a year and a
half to build, and when he was done he had spent around $2,500 for the interior
wood and fixtures.
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| Tom Kelly's House Today |
During the 1920s, the house was used
in a Hollywood film, and from 1936 into the 1950s, it was operated as a tourist
museum. In 1954 Tommy Thompson bought the little house and raised his family of
eight there. Thompson left in the 1980s, and over the years the house fell into
disrepair. In 2005, the foundation was stabilized, bottles were replaced and
the house was repaired. No one currently lives there.
3) Doc Hope’s Bottle House,
Hillsville, Virginia
John Hope was a pharmacist in
Hillsville when he hired Friel Dalton to build a playhouse for his daughter
made from bottles. Hope provided medicine bottles and Dalton collected wine
bottles from local restaurants and bars.
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| Inside Doc Hope's House |
It took Dalton about 3 months to
construct the 15 foot by 25 foot house, but he built it in a different manner
than most; he pointed the bottle out so that the walls were flush. Locals loved
the house and nicknamed it “The House of A Thousand Headaches” in reference to
the number of wine bottles used in the construction. The house still stands
today and the town of Hopeville is interested in preserving the building.
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| The Castle-Like Front |
4) Embalming Fluid House, Boswell, BC,
Canada
Just across the Canadian border from
Creston, Idaho stands a castle-like glass house built from embalming fluid bottles. Seriously! According to the builder, David H. Brown (who retired from the funeral
business), he built it in order to "indulge
a whim of a peculiar nature".
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| A Death-Defying Side View |
Built in 1952, the house was
constructed in the shape of a three-leaf clover and is made up of over 500,000
empty embalming fluid bottles that Brown collected from fellow morticians.
Inside, strips of wood and cedar boards form the walls. The two-story,
1,200 square foot house, boasts a living room with fireplace, kitchen, and
master bedroom; upstairs is a second bedroom.
Prince Edward Island, Canada boasts
not one, not two, but three bottle buildings, and all may be toured. In fact,
this is the 35th season for the longest-standing tourism attraction
on the island.
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| The Bottle House |
The first structure to be
constructed was a six gabled bottle house built in 1980 by 66 year old Édouard
Arsenault. The house measures 20 feet by 14 feet and has three sections. It
took approximately 12,000 bottles to build it using over 85 bags of cement to
hold the 300 to 400 bottles per row in place.
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| The Tavern of Bottles |
In 1982, Arsenault decided to put
another 8,000 bottles to use by building a tavern. The hexagonal structure was
originally used as the gift shop for the gabled house. In 1993, the structure was rebuilt because the harsh weather conditions on the island had
taken a toll on the building.
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| Inside the Chapel |
And for the pièce de résistance,
Arsenault built a chapel with approximately 10,000 bottles. Inside, visitors
will find an alter and pews made from bottles for quiet reflection. There is an amazing color
display when the sun hits the bottles just right. Arsenault died in 1984 before he could continue his bottle village. Tours are available by contacting The Bottle Houses.
~ Joy
G.H.
Mumm is the official Champagne sponsor for the 141st Kentucky Derby,
which takes place May 2nd at Churchill Downs in Louisville. 
As
part of this partnership, G.H. Mumm will create the “G.H. Mumm Winner’s Circle beneath
the iconic Twin Spires. This will include 20 private open-air, all-inclusive
suites and another 600 temporary premium seats for Derby horse owners and their
friends to use during the race. The $4.2 million construction was proposed
after the Derby was criticized last year for not providing, what some horse
owners thought were prime seats and views. 
Before
the race, a bottle of Mumm Cordon Rouge, the House’s signature champagne, will be sabered in the
“G.H. Mumm Toast to the Kentucky Derby.”
By
garnering the official status, G.H. Mumm will be a featured part of all victory
celebrations and major events held at Churchill Downs throughout the year. 
