Don’t go throwing rocks at these beautiful glass houses.  Made out of recycled bottles these houses stand apart.

On Prince Edward Island in Canada there the  Les Maisons de Bouteilles (Bottle Houses): 3 whimsical buildings made entirely out of glass bottles.

The Six Gabled House was the first bottle house was built in 1980 out of approximately 12,000 bottles; it measures 20 feet x 14 feet with three main sections. The Tavern was built in 1982, Édouard Arsenault decided to try his luck at a second building, using approximately 8,000 bottles this time. Finally the Chapel where 10,000 bottles transformed in 1983 to become a magnificent little chapel, complete with pews and altar.

All the Glass Houses were carefully planned out and executed with precision and creative cleverness.



Closer to home in Arlene Gardens, North Carolina, Virginia Wright-Frierson has created a very bright, blue chapel as a tribute to Minnie Evans. (Minnie was an African-American folk artist known for her colorful crayon drawings.)

The detail that went into each placement of a bottle is quite fascinating.  You can see where Virginia thought to turn the bottle sideways to create a different visual effect.  The chapel looks more like an Italian mosaic.

Many buildings around America have taken to these “bottle walls” though not many of them are anonymous here are a few.  Thanks to vitreosity for the pictures!  The stained glass effect that these bottles create is a sight to behold.  It is amazing to think that we throw these magnificent decorations away every day.