Bottle Village

Bottle village was created in 1956 by Tressa “Grandma” Prisbrey at the age of 60. Her initial porpoise for the structure was so that she could keep out the smell from the Turkey farm next door and so that she could store her pencil collection, but it soon turned into much more.

Using mortar and bottles (which she found during daily trips to the dump) Grandma Prisbrey managed to turn her 1/3 acre lot into a magnificent work of art, eventually being accepted and praised by the art world.

The rooms

All the rooms are filled with patterns formed by light coming through the bottles on the walls creating an almost surreal feeling. Due to earthquakes most of the rooms have been closed off to the public for safety reasons.

Doll head shrine

One of the many other worldly shrines created by Grandma Prisbrey. The base of it is made from car headlights placed in mortar. A majority of the shires in bottle village have now been destroyed due to earthquakes.

Sculpture

One of the many sculptures placed along bottle village. Some of her sculptures were featured in 5 major exhibitions, two of which traveled to europe.

(1974-1979)

Her legacy

Her life was not an easy life, she turned her sorrows into art. She outlived all her children and died in a home at age 92, but her work lives on. Most of the buildings have been damaged through the years because due to earthquakes but Prisbey's bottle village lives on. It was accepted into the national registry of historic places in 1996 and is now cared for by a group of dedicated people funded by donations.