While we'd love to honor every request for a private tour of Bottle Village, that is no longer possible. I've been giving tours for the last 9 years because I love to show people Grandma's wondrous creation— and I had the most flexible schedule. Time marches on and my Rheumatoid Arthritis makes my "flexible schedule" about as dependable as the rusty Tin Man waiting for a can of WD40!
There aren't enough volunteers with that extra bit of time to fulfill all the requests for tours.
We're working on a solution, and do aplologize if you haven't heard from us re your request. Bottle Village is Simi Valley's "Field of Dreams"— Grandma built it and they came. They still want to come. That's the magic of Bottle Village.
People from all over the world come to see Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle Village— Japan, Croatia, The Netherlands, Germany, Canada, France, England. Our globe-trotting fans make it a point to visit BV while in the US— they love and cherish every facet of Bottle Village— even now, in all it's dilapidated, crumpled condition.They are deliriously grateful to be let inside the gates— travelers from faraway places on a quest to see the muse in Simi Valley. They leave inspired, enriched and enchanted, as if one destination on their journey of life has been felt and seen.
Our American visitors come from all four corners of the US and many states in between. They all have amazing stories of how they know about BV and why they wanted to visit. Do you find it odd that most of our visitors live outside Simi Valley?
October2008 - Grandma would haved loved "The Gad-About Gals" from St. Matthew's Methodist Church in Newbury Park. Ruth Buschart, the lively 80-something "organizer" and a troop of her ladyfriends toured Bottle Village and were completely in awe of Grandma's accomplishment. Pastor Bob came along too— he enjoys the field trips, and was especially impressed with Grandma's "Shrine to All Religions"— a church-like creation, once containing all sorts of religious icons.
Sept.2008 - When I answered my phone at 3:30 AM a few Monday mornings ago, I was ready. (Uh-oh, I'm living in one of those political ads on TV...) Okay, so it wasn't some global crisis, nor was it a family emergency. It was Pat in San Fernando, thinking she was leaving a message for the Bottle Village Office which would obviously be closed at 3:30AM on a Monday morning! (Even if we had a real office...) Who was more surprised when I answered the phone?
I have to say that most of the people who visit Bottle Village and those who volunteer for BV share a common quality— we're friendly, outgoing and curious. Is it surprising that Pat and I chatted like new/old friends for over an hour? At 4:00 AM?
Last week, another Pat (Patrick) sent me an email, requesting a reservation for 2 on Saturday Sept 27. I suggested 1:00PM to him, knowing Pat from San Fernando would be there too. The more the merrier!
Another surprise— they arrived together!
Patrick thought he knew about Bottle Village from Huell Howser's California's Gold on PBS-KCET, and Pat "always wanted to visit Bottle Village." I told them Huell Howser filmed a segment at Bottle Village 4 days before the 1994 Northridge Earthquake and so far, I didn't think it has ever been aired.
We all agreed that the pre-earthquake footage of Bottle Village is precious and should be shown— along with a follow-up visit by Huell. Both Pats are going to write letters to Huell Howser. You can do that too! Email Huell at huell@calgold.com !
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Sept.2008 - Jackie Warner has lived in Thousand Oaks for 5 years and saw the article in the Ventura County Star. She's always been a fan of Folk Art and mentioned visiting Isaiah Zagar's Magic Gardens in Philadelphia PA. It was Isaiah who told her about Bottle Village being close to where she lived. Well, Imagine That!
Jackie brought along her 6 year old daughter Sydney and her mom Dolores. Grandma would have loved their "sparkly Bottle Village look"— Sydney had magenta sequined barrettes, Mom had a fabulous feather and beaded necklace, and Jackie had shoulder length earrings— a delightful web of purple beads and silver mesh. (Those earrings were Mom's— but Jackie just had to wear them....
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Sept.2008- Happy Birthday, Faye Zeuner! Faye visited Bottle Village years ago and decided it was the place she wanted to celebrate her birthday! She brought her friend Maureen and her two granddaughters, Grace and Maddie. Living in Simi Valley for 33 years, she remembers having "The Grandma Tour" and reminisced about how Bottle Village "used to look". As Grace, age 2 was "petting" one of the ceramic kitties on the Television Picture Tube Fence, Faye remarked, "It's so sad to see it this way, it was her life's work, I wonder what she would say if she saw it now."
Faye thanked me for making her birthday "extra special" by being able to come back and re-visit one of her treasured memories.
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Sept.2008 - "We want to build a Bottle Wall in our backyard. Can we come to see Bottle Village?" said the voice on my answer machine. Peter and Donna Thomas are bookmakers (no, not that kind of bookmaker...) who live up in Santa Cruz. Their names and profession sounded familiar from my years at The Rennaissance Pleasure Faire in Agoura, CA. After more than twenty years, re-connecting with old friends who share my enthusiam for Bottle Village was especially heartwarming. Another part of BV life that's come full circle.
Creating one-of-a-kind masterpieces and lovely limited editions, they've established themselves among museums and collectors as dedicated artists and extraordinary craftspeople. No strangers to solving design problems, they dove into Bottle Village, exploring every nook and cranny of Grandma's bottle-building techniques. Peter summed it up by saying "We just want to build a simple bottle wall for a planter, I can't believe she did all this !"
Like Grandma Prisbrey pushed the boundaries of conventionial building by using botlles and throwaways, Peter imagined a unique design for a series of "books"— "How about using old ukeleles as cover materials instead of the more traditional leather and cloth?" Take a look at his Ukelele Series which combines Peter's fondness for ukelele music with his talent for creating handmade books.
I brought him an old ukelele that I had and said, "Make another "ukelele book" from this and dedicate it to Bottle Village!" Aloha, Peter and Donna. Mahalo.
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Sept.2008 - Judy Takashimi, from Camarillo brought her friend from Las Vegas, (who was originally from New Zealand) They laughed when I pointed out "The Card Suite" that Grandma created because she enjoyed going to Las Vegas. Grandma said "Well, I must of made that when I came back from Vegas— there's a heart and a spade and a diamond and a whatchamacallit— a club" (the "Card Suite Heart" is above) Judy read the article in the Ventura County Star and wanted to make sure to bring her friend to see Bottle Village— a place she remembered from years ago.
A car zoomed in behind me as I was getting ready to pull away. Two people and a fluffy little dog got out and immediately started peering through the gates. Well....
Steve and Mary Twitchell live in Kingman AZ and were on their way back home after visiting relatives in Ventura. Steve said "I've always wanted to visit this place and we just had to drive by on our way home! Wow! we're so lucky you were here!"
This happens all the time at Bottle Village. We're there for one reason or another— and inevitably more people stop by— delighted that we're "open." They arrive on a whim and we're there.
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