Tressa ‘Grandma’ Prisbrey, Bottle Village
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Location:
Simi Valley, California, USA (Map)
Status:
Extant
In 1994, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake caused severe structural damage to “Bottle Village.” Federal emergency funds were initially promised, but the offer was withdrawn after opponents protested the use of taxpayer money to aid constructions made of “garbage.” Despite this setback, the site was added to the National Register for Historic Places in 1996, and a reinvigorated, all-volunteer PBVC has accomplished some restoration.
Artist:
Built:
1956-1965
Materials:
bottles, concrete, dolls, found objects, pencils, tile
Visiting Information
Although officially closed, the site may be viewed by appointment.
Portrait of Prisbrey.
Entrance from street.
Cleopatra's bedroom.
Mosaic walk.
Site in April 1981.
Grandma Prisbrey in April 1981.
December 1996
December 1996
December 1996
December 1996
December 1996
December 1996
December 1996
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December 1996
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July 2014
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July 2014
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
© Roger Brown Study Collection, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, late 1970s-1981
July 2014
July 2014
July 2014
July 2014
July 2014
July 2014
July 2014
July 2014
July 2014
July 2014
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Photograph by Seymour Rosen. ©SPACES
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with the permission of the photographer, Robert Foster
Used with permission of the photographer, Brett Hanover
Used with permission of the photographer, Brett Hanover
Used with permission of the photographer, Brett Hanover
Used with permission of the photographer, Brett Hanover
Used with permission of the photographer, Brett Hanover
Used with permission of the photographer, Brett Hanover
Used with permission of the photographer, Brett Hanover
Used with permission of the photographer, Brett Hanover
Used with permission of the photographer, Brett Hanover
Used with permission of the photographer, Brett Hanover
Used with permission of the photograher, Brett Hanover
Used with permission of the photograher, Brett Hanover
Used with permission of the photograher, Brett Hanover
Used with permission of the photograher, Brett Hanover
Used with permission of the photograher, Brett Hanover
Used with permission of the photographer, Rich Gabe
Used with permission of the photographer, Rich Gabe
Used with permission of the photographer, Rich Gabe
Used with permission of the photographer, Rich Gabe
Used with permission of the photographer, Rich Gabe
Used with permission of the photographer, Rich Gabe
Used with permission of the photographer, Rich Gabe
Used with permission of the photographer, Rich Gabe
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Roger Brown
Used with permission of the photographer, Rich Gabe
Used with permission of the photographer, Rich Gabe
Used with permission of the photographer, Rich Gabe
Used with permission of the photographer, Rich Gabe
Used with permission of the photographer, Rich Gabe
Used with permission of the photographer, Rich Gabe
Used with permission of the photographer, Rich Gabe
Used with permission of the photographer, Rich Gabe
Used with permission of the photographer, Rich Gabe
Used with permission of the photographer, Rich Gabe
Images
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About the Artist/Site
Tressa Prisbrey was born in the farming community of Easton, Minnesota, to parents of German heritage. The youngest of eight children, she soon moved with her family to homestead in Minot, North Dakota. At the age of 15, she married her elder sister’s former husband, 52-year-old Theodore Grinolds. The couple had seven children, six of whom died as adults. Grinolds’ died in 1931. Tressa headed west a decade later sometime after 1941, living in Seattle for a time. By 1947 she had moved to Simi Valley, California, and married a local man, Al Prisbrey. They eventually bought a small parcel of land—one-third of an acre—just downwind of a nearby poultry farm.
Asserting that cement blocks were too expensive for the initial retaining wall and storage shed she needed, Prisbrey went to the dump in her Studebaker pickup, and collected the bottles and other discards she would use for building materials. In later years she told visitors she was motivated by the need to house her extensive pencil collection (variously numbered at between 2,000 and 17,000 items) but after she built her “Pencil House,” she continued building, ultimately creating 13 small houses and other structures linked together with colorful mosaic pathways.
As she constructed, furnished, and embellished her rooms with findings from the dump, Prisbrey began to cultivate a new identity and became known as “Grandma.” She recited anecdotes and accounts of her premonitions as she escorted guests through her “Bottle Village,” pointing out interesting features, and singing and playing the piano in a structure she called “the Meditation Room.”
In 1979, when Prisbrey was 83 years old, a group interested in safeguarding the site’s future formed the Preserve Bottle Village Committee (PBVC.) Through their efforts, “Bottle Village” was declared a Ventura County Cultural Landmark, and in 1981, they secured its recognition as a California Registered Historical Landmark.
Her health failing, Tressa Prisbrey moved to San Francisco in 1982 to live with her one remaining daughter. She died six years later.
In 1994, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake caused severe structural damage to “Bottle Village.” Federal emergency funds were initially promised, but the offer was withdrawn after opponents protested the use of taxpayer money to aid constructions made of “garbage.” Despite this setback, the site was added to the National Register for Historic Places in 1996, and a reinvigorated, all-volunteer PBVC has accomplished some restoration. Although officially closed, the site may be viewed by appointment.
~This entry has been adapted from Verni Greenfield’s 1986 Making Do or Making Art by Jo Farb Hernandez.
SPACES Archives Holdings
Doll and chair by Prisbrey, correspondence, clippings, and approximately 300 photographic prints, slides and negatives.
Related Documents
Letter to La Haye Bronze from Sandra J. Elder, CA State Historical Resources Commission, 6/11/1984
business card for Helen Marie Dennert
Letter to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Helen Dennert, 1/4/1990
Reflections of Bottle Village, 1992
invitation to Reflections of Bottle Village, 1992
Letter to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Dr. Wolfgang Ebert, 12/12/1980
Letter to Preserve Bottle Village Committee from SPACES/Seymour Rosen
Letter to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from The Preserve Bottle Village Commmittee, 11/12/04
list of current issues related to Bottle Village, 3/4/1997
Preserve Bottle Village Bulletin, 1987
Report to the Judith Rothschild Foundation, 3/27/2000
Summary of Bottle Village Project, 11/21/1999
Letter to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Daniel Paul, 3/1/1995
Letter to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Amy E. Skillman, Bottle Village, 9/26/1984
conversation between Grandma Prisbrey and a friend, Mary
flyer for Bottle Village, 5/12/1994
Letter to James Lee Witt, FEMA from SPACES/Seymour Rosen, 1/15/1996
flyer for screening of “Visions of Paradise”
Legend and diagram of Bottle Village
Letter to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Helen Dennert, 2/13/1991
donation form for mosaic stone for Bottle Village
brief bio of Tressa Prisbrey, 1985
bibliography of books and magazine articles on Tressa Prisbrey, 1996
booklet for Bottle Village event, 1982
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
Bottle Village Public Safety, Securtiy, and Stabilization Budget
Curatorial Program and historic preservation
Letter from SPACES/Seymour Rosen
Petition to save CA Folk Art Environments
Letter to Amy Skillman, Preserve Bottle Village from Michele Bell, Art Programs, Inc, 2/17/1984
Consignment for “The Dream Builders of CA” exhibition, 2/25/1984
business card for Michele Bell, Art Programs, Inc
Loan Agreement between Amy Skillman and Art Programs Inc, 1984
Press Release for the Dreambuilders of CA
The Dreambuilders of CA Exhibition details, 1984
news for The Dreambuilders of CA
Brochure Text for Dreambuilders exhibition, 1982
Letter to Barbara W. Kaufman, Seton Hall University from Amy E. Skillman, 1/31/1985
Letter to Barbara W. Kaufman, Seton Hall University from Amy E. Skillman, 5/1/1985
Letter to Barbara W. Kaufman, Seton Hall University from Amy E. Skillman, 12/13/1985
business card for Barbara W. Kaufman, Museum of American Folk Art
flyer for “A Time to Reap”, 11/9/1985
brief bio and slide list for Bottle Village, 2/1985
tag for Prisbrey Doll Tree Sculpture, 1986
invoice for shipping of Prisbrey art pieces, 8/8/1986
invoice for shipping of Prisbrey art pieces, 2/24/1986
Letter to Amy Skillman, Preserve Bottle Village from Harvey Jones, The Oakland Museum, 11/24/1985
Letter to Donna Reid, The Oakland Museum from Amy E. Skillman, Preserve Bottle Village, 9/15/1985
Letter to Amy Skillman, Craft and Folk Art Museum from Donna Reid, The Oakland Museum, 5/17/1985
Letter to Joanne Jackson, Preserve Bottle Village from Barbara Bowman, The Oakland Museum, 11/5/1986
shipping record for art work between Joanne Johnson and SF Craf and Folk Art Museum, 6/20/1988
Letter from Carole Austin, SF Craft and Folk Art Museum, 6/7/1988
loan agreement between SF Craft and Folk Art Musem and Preserve Bottle Village, 6/27/1988
Letter to Joanne Johnson, Preserve Bottle Village from SF Craft and Folk Art Museum, 8/26/1988
flyer for “Ageless”, 1/19/1990
Reflections of Bottle Village, 1992
info about Bottle Village and “Visions of the Left Coast”
Letter from Nancy Doll, Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, 7/21/1995
loan agreement between Preserve Bottle Village and Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, 7/6/1995
Press Release for “Visions from the Left Coast: CA Self-Taught and Visionary Artists”, 1995
Letter to Terry Wolverton, The Woman’s Building from Amy Skillman, 7/19/1983
Letter to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Ernest B. Gerran, International Communication Agency, 1/17/1980
info about Grandma’s Bottle Village film
business card for Grandma Prisbrey’s Bottle Village
Restoration Report for Bottle Village
USA Sites and overview of Bottle Village, 1988
USA Sites and overview of Bottle Village
timeline for Grandma Prisbrey, 10/30/1999
bibliography of books and magazine articles on Tressa Prisbrey, 1996
Letter to SPACES/Seymour Rosen from Joanne (?) Preserve Bottle Village, 1/23/1989
fond note about Grandma Prisbrey, 10/15/1988
exhibition database in progress
Map and site information
4595 Cochran St.
Simi Valley, California, United States
Latitude/Longitude: 34.279458 / -118.704647
Visiting Information
Although officially closed, the site may be viewed by appointment.
is a nonprofit public benefit organization created with an international focus on the study, documentation and archive of art environments and self-taught artistic activity.
Seymour Rosen
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