Northwest Backroads
It's like living in a glass house
01:16 PM PDT on Wednesday, July 16, 2008
In British Columbia on top of a rock, a house was built of embalming bottles.
They're morbid to look at until you see them in a whole new light.
Twenty-five miles north of Creston, B.C., thousands of old embalming bottles have been brought to life by a retired mortician.
Northwest Backroads
The entire house was built of embalming bottles.
"A lot of people here thought dad was crazy," said Eldon Brown. "The neatest thing was, dad would admit it."
Almost 50 years ago, Eldon Brown's dad, Dr. David Brown, began building an unusual home for his family on a slab of rock tucked in-between Canada's Highway 3A and Kootenay Lake.
On top of the rock, a house was built, from recycled embalming bottles collected from funeral homes across Canada.
In all, over 600,000 bottles were used to make the rounded observation tower, the curved courtyard, and the three bedroom home shaped like a clover leaf.
The glass structure was meant to be a family home, but it didn't take long for the Browns to discover they were living inside a huge tourist attraction.
In 1956, after living in the glass house for just two years, the Browns decided to move out and invite the public in, at least during the summer.
Eldon's mother still lives there during winter.
Dr. Brown passed away in 1970, and today his son Eldon keeps an eye on the place and enforces the house rule – never to throw stones.
In the future, there are plans to expand. They still have 150,000 bottles stored.
A stash of old embalming bottles guarantees this house will live on as one of Canada's most unusual tourist attractions.
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