Bottle House

Calico, California

There was no recycling pickup in the old days, so the residents of this ghost town in the Mojave Desert came up with an ingenious way to reuse their empty bottles -- they built an entire house out of them! Knowing better than to mix green and clear glass, they arranged the colors to create zig-zags, a star ... and even the name of the town itself!

Directions: From Interstate 15 a few miles east of Barstow, take the Calico Road exit and follow the paved road 3 miles north to Calico.

Last visited: October 1990.

Standard disclaimer: Sites are described for entertainment purposes only, as they were at the time of my last visit. I can not vouch for the current condition of the site or its accessibility.