The Glass House - Boswell, BC - Bottle Sculptures on Waymarking.com

For over 60 years a well known sight along Highway 3A north of Creston, The Glass House is today operated as a tourist attraction, open to visit seven days a week from May to October. It is on the lake side of Highway 3A at the community of Boswell, about 39 kilometres north of the Highway 3/3A junction in Creston. It costs $10.00 to visit and would have been well worth the cost if it had been open when we visited. Unfortunately, we made the trek up Kootenay Lake just a little too late this year and it was already closed for the year.

Below is a little of the story of The Glass House, supplied by Kokanee Springs Resort.

The Glass House

This unusual roadside attraction in Boswell, BC was built from over half a million discarded embalming fluid bottles. In 1952, David H. Brown retired from 35 years in the funeral business. It occurred to Mr. Brown that there should be some practical use to put the bottles to. And, it was all started, to quote Mr. Brown, “to indulge a whim of a peculiar nature”.

Mr. Brown travelled western Canada collecting bottles from many of his friends in the funeral profession, until he had acquired 500,000 of the square shaped bottles, weighing 250 tons in all.

The house itself sits upon solid rock. Built in a cloverleaf pattern with three main rooms, circular shape, 48 feet in length, 24 feet wide and with the upstairs room, it contains 1,200 sq ft of floor space.

Entering the grounds, the visitors are welcomed by a mountain stream trickling over a moss-covered water wheel which brings to life the dwarf inhabitants nestled around the wishing well.

Over 320 dozen flowers border pathways and entice visitors from the terrace over a bridge also built of glass bottles. A winding path beneath the bridge leads to the rocky lakeshore and a lookout called the lighthouse which offers a spectacular view of beautiful Kootenay Lake.
From Kokanee Springs Resort