The Bottle Houses – Prince Edward Island, Canada
You absolutely MUST see The Bottle Houses on Prince Edward Island (PEI) in Canada. Hands down one of the coolest things I have ever seen, and a wonderful expression of Bee’nYOUnique!
*TIP*
Go on a sunny day to get the most of the gorgeous colors
A fun place for all ages, The Bottle Houses are magical, fun, and imaginative. There is the Chapel, the Six Gabled House, the Lighthouse, the Tavern, a lily pond, a fairy garden complete with a teacup tree and gorgeous flowers! I was there in August 2022 and I enjoyed the gardens as much as I did the houses.
Don’t think you can get to PEI? No worries, I got you! Come explore via this blog and see how wonderful this place is!
The Chapel
Made from 10,000 bottles!! Can you imagine?
Edouard Arsenault is the gentleman that created this gorgeous artwork of a building. As the story goes; he collected votive candle holders that were discarded from local Catholic parishes. He used the votive holders, along with 10,000 bottles, in the construction of the Chapel. I like to image his delight as he collected the beautiful colored glass, thinking of how they would bring his vision to life!
Here you see a pictures of what it looks like from the front door, the Virgin Mary, and the pews. The pews were actually comfortable! Imagine having a wedding in here? Yes, you can do that! How cool would that be? Especially if timed right when the sun in shining into those green bottles behind the altar. Dynamite!
Edouard Arsenault, from Prince Edward Island
Edouard was a king of bottle recycling for sure! Imagine, driving around town, picking up empty bottles from all the local establishments: restaurants, dance halls, the legion, garbage dumps, to put together the masterpiece in your mind.
I imagine many people around town had all kinds of thoughts about Edouard and what he was doing. I’m just happy he didn’t let anyone break his spirit! In fact, it seems he received a lot of support because people started bringing bottles to him!
Eduardo started collecting glass bottles in the 70’s and began construction in the spring of 1980, when he was 66 years old.
As you will see from the pictures, he used any type of bottle he could get his hands on. It took him 1500 days to build his masterpieces.
A fisherman by trade, but in the off season he was a carpenter. His work included boat building and construction. Reportedly, Edouard had a good sense of humor.
Edouard passed on May 31, 1984 at the age of 70. The Chapel was his last bottle house.
The Six Gabled House
The Six-Gabled house was Edouard’s first glass bottle house. It opened to the public in 1981 and is constructed from approximately 12,000 bottles. In 1995, the Six-Gabled house was severely damaged by a storm. It was rebuilt to match the original construction.
Here’s a walk through the Six-Gabled house.
The Tavern
Definitely my favorite of all Edouard’s buildings. I had a lot of fun checking out this tavern and pretending to be bar keep. The only thing missing was alcohol and patrons to laugh with me. Oh, and of course, Edouard.
The central cylinder is original. The rest of the Tavern had to be reconstructed as there was damage that was the result of building movement from spring thaws.
The Gardens & Other Funky Fun Stuff
While Edouard planted trees and many of the flowers, it is his daughter, Rejeanne Arsenault, that led the design of the gardens you see in the pictures below. Thank you Rejeanne for the bee’YOUtiful gardens!
The current owner of the Bottle Houses is Angie Aucoin Cormier.
The Bottle Houses, Prince Edward Island
So there you have it! The funkiest, most whimsical thing I found while visiting Prince Edward Island Canada.
I hope you get to visit in person!
