Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle Village

Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle Village is a California Historical Landmark, a Ventura County Cultural Landmark, a City of Simi Valley Cultural Landmark and it’s even on the National Register of Historic Places.

It’s the artistic work of Tressa “Grandma” Prisbrey who began working on the house in 1956 at age 60, transforming her one-third acre rural lot into “Bottle Village” — a wonderland of wishing wells, walkways, fountains, plus 15 structures to house her “collections” — all made from discarded objects she found. 

The name "Bottle Village" comes from the structures themselves which are made from tens of thousands of discarded bottles Grandma herself retrieved, when she’d do her daily trip to the nearby dump. It’s said that her motto was, “...it takes more than money to make something out of nothing, and look at the fun I have doing it." 

Bottle Village is a quirky and amusing approach to recycling and shed-making, but it’s also a personal statement speaking to the importance of integrating creative art into everyday life. This structure has been recognized by art scholars and serves as an inspiration in the abstract art world. 

Although Bottle Village was damaged in the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, it’s still open for tours by appointment for guests to explore. Today, the structure is overseen by the Preserve Bottle Village Committee which is a non-profit organization restoring, protecting and preserving the landmark.