Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle Village

Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle Village is tucked away inwards a modest residential neighborhood of Simi Valley , California. In an expanse one-third of an patch , at that spot are over xxx sculptures together with xvi houses built past times Tressa Prisbrey out of an estimated ane 1000000 bottles together with other discarded items which she collected from a nearby dump.

Grandma Tressa Prisbrey began edifice the Bottle Village inwards 1956 , when she was 60 years old. Tressa was collecting pencils , every bit a hobby , for the final few decades together with had amassed 17 ,000 of them. She needed a identify to maintain them. At outset she take in she would laid a storehouse , merely when she realized that cinder blocks are likewise expensive , she decided to brand ane out of bottles instead. Tressa got the take in subsequently seeing a bottle identify at the Knott's Berry Farm subject common inwards Buena Park , California.

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Photo credit: Jonathan Haeber/Flickr

Tressa striking the local dump , together with along amongst her sis , started collecting bottles. Before she knew it , she had over ane 1000000 bottles had hand. And that’s how Bottle Village was born.

First , she built her “Pencil House” , together with therefore a perimeter wall to maintain away the odour together with dust of the following turkey farm. But ane 1000000 bottles is non slow to exhaust. So she continued building. She built closed to other identify for her doll collection (she had 600 dolls) , together with therefore the Leaning Tower of Bottle Village , the Dolls Head Shrine , Cleopatra's Bedroom , the Round House , together with more. All the buildings were linked together past times colorful mosaic pathways. Grandma Prisbrey also used machine headlights , fluorescent tubes , TV sets together with whatsoever else she constitute interesting.

When visitors came to Bottle Village , Grandma Prisbrey gave a tour of the place. She charged less than a dollar a see merely people oft gave her more.

Grandma Prisbrey continued to add together novel structures together with tweak onetime ones for 20 v years. When her wellness started to neglect , she left the hamlet inwards 1982 , at the historic menses of 86 , together with took residence amongst her sole-surviving modest fry inwards San Francisco. She died inwards 1988.

In 1994 , the Bottle Village was badly damaged past times the Northridge earthquake which struck closed to viii miles away. The site is immediately looked subsequently past times a mortal non-profit organization that is attempting to save together with restore the property.

Bottle Village is immediately a recognized California Historical Landmark , together with is on the National Register of Historic Places.

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