An Incredible Place~

At first you just don’t know what to make of it. There is this large bottle shaped structure out by the road, looks interesting so you pull in. You go through this rather nice gift shop which would be good just on its own, and out of curiosity you pay a modest fee to enter the grounds and look around. And that’s when the magic happens: It is like nothing you’ve ever seen before, buildings from thousands of bottles, made by hand, a labour of love nestled in a beautiful garden setting. Unforgettable.

The Bottle Houses are located about 25 km up the coast from Summerside, PEI at 6891 Rte 11 on the North Cape Coastal Drive, which is a beautiful drive just in itself.

The Chapel~

After entering the grounds the first building we entered was the Chapel. This is a beautiful introduction to the work of Édouard T. Arsenault, who in 1979 at the age of 65, began collecting, cleaning and de-labeling the glass bottles that would eventually be transformed into three structures on his property. The Chapel, comprised of over 10,000 bottles, was actually the last structure to be built and was finished after Mr. Arsenault’s passing in 1984. And yes, people have been married here. It is a beautiful spot to sit in the late afternoon.

The Gardens~

As you leave the Chapel the full extent of the gardens on the property begins to hit you. Everything is very well kept, with a great variety of perennials, shrubs and annuals.

Mr. Arsenault was a keen gardener, digging a pond, planting trees, shrubs, and laying stonework. This tradition has continued, and there are all kinds of little details here and there.

The Six-Gabled House~

As you exit the Chapel and start walking through the gardens and past the fish pond there is this beautiful creation beckoning you: the Six-Gabled House. This was the first bottle house Mr. Arsenault built and was composed of over 12,000 bottles. Once he had his idea, he begun collecting them from everywhere–the local Legion, bars and pubs, junk yards, what have you. And then people began to bring them.

The Six-Gabled House leads you into a symphony of light. Divided into three rooms, here we can see inside Édouard’s first creation. Completed in 1980, by this time it had become a community effort with donations of bottles from everywhere. So many people began showing up to see his work that he opened his backyard to tourists in 1981, charging a small fee of 50 cents, and giving them a personal tour as well.

Below we see the organ he used to play, and his family has placed a portrait on it of him in his WWII uniform.

The Tavern~

The Tavern was the second structure built by Édouard and was completed in 1982. It is composed of 8,000 bottles. Due to severe frosts and heavy winters it had to be partly rebuilt in 1993, but his original concept is the same.

Here we can see the inside of the Tavern and with the view out the window.

The Last Lighthouse Keeper~

Édouard T. Arsenault was the last lighthouse keeper of the Cape Egmont Lighthouse in PEI. He lived there with his family from 1950 until it was electrified in 1958. He then went from lighthouse keeper to caretaker, and they moved down the road to the Rte 11 property. The image above [courtesy Library and Archives Canada] dates from 1920, note house attached. Eventually the lighthouse had to be moved back from the cliffs due to erosion and the dwelling part was demolished.

Here you can see the replica of the Cape Egmont Lighthouse toward the rear of the Bottle House property. Note the ocean in the background in the above photo. It is a beautiful place.

Slideshow~

A Tribute~

Édouard Theodore Arsenault was born May 14, 1914 in East Prince County, P.E.I. to Marie Roseline Arsenault and Emmanuel Pierre Arsenault and was baptized on May 17, 1914 by cleric P. P. Arsenault à L’Église de Notre-Dame du Mont-Carmel. Except for going to England to serve in WWII, he lived his entire life in the Cap-Egmont area. He started off as a fisherman under his father, then he began to repair and build boats. In 1948 he married Rosina Leclerc. The first two children were born while they lived at the Cap-Egmont lighthouse. Two more children followed when they lived at the Bottle House property.

Édouard passed away May 31, 1984 just after his 70th birthday, and four years after he started the bottle house project. He is buried in the cemetery of the church where he was baptized, the beautiful Notre-dame du Mont-Carmel Cemetery overlooking the ocean. It is fitting that two grandsons completed an idea he had of “building a bottle out of bottles,” and the 13 ft structure stands as a tribute by the road in front of his house. In reading about Mr. Arsenault and the Bottle Houses it is obvious he loved his family, the entire Cap-Egmont area, his Acadian roots, and the Evangline Region of Prince Edward Island.

Let me get this straight: this man in the last four years of his life made something that not only celebrated his creative spirit but that of an entire community and region, and people still visit decades later.

Well done, Mr. Arsenault, well done!

If you go~

The North Cape Coastal Drive is a beautiful drive on the western side of Prince Edward Island. If you are crossing the Confederation Bridge you basically turn left and head to Summerside.

Worthwhile stops on the way to the Bottle Houses are the Acadian Museum in Miscouche (near Summerside), Union Corner Provincial Park and the incredible Notre-dame du Mont-Carmel Cathedral (1898) and Cemetery near Mt Carmel. Further up the coastal drive and past the Cape Egmont Lighthouse are the Cedar Dunes Provincial Park and Lighthouse at West Point, the Potato Museum at O’Leary, the Stompin’ Tom Centre at Skinner’s Pond, the North Cape Wind Farm and Interpretative Centre at the northern tip of the island, and so on.