The iconic “bottle house,” a 1937 Hazel Park landmark faced with more than 20,000 antique glass bottles, has undergone a full renovation and is on the market for $350,000.
The 1,225-square-foot, two-bedroom home located just minutes from downtown Hazel Park has long been a curiosity for drivers who slow down to study its unusual exterior.
Every brick is covered with the bottoms of glass bottles that original builder Omar Reese, an employee at Dodge Main in Hamtramck, reproduced and pressed into a custom façade during a building-material shortage in the late 1930s.
A newspaper article published shortly after construction called it the “glass house,” describing the exterior as a mosaic of bottles from local and national brands of the era.
Today, those bottles that shimmer in multicolored light when the sun hits them read like a time capsule of early 20th-century retail: Coca-Cola, Vicks VapoRub, Schenley’s whiskey, Noxzema, Clorox, Dossin Brothers beverages, LaTonia Club Root Beer, prune juice bottles, wine bottles and more.
Two chimneys are covered with white Pond’s cosmetic jars.
Investor Carl Schiller, an Oakland County native and co-owner of the real estate solutions company House Full of Cash, was contacted by the previous owner’s grandson and invited to tour the property. Despite years of deferred maintenance, the house, Schiller said, was clean and clearly still loved by the family.
The home at 39 W. Elza remained in the same family for 70 years until Schiller was contacted.
He learned that the owner had repeatedly rejected higher offers from builders who wanted the land, preferring a buyer who would preserve the home and not demolish it.
“I wouldn’t dream of having it any other way,” Schiller said. The owner “told him she’d been thinking about selling for years and even turned down more money, but somehow knew I was the right buyer.”
The owner passed away in October 2022, less than a year after the sale.
Once work began, Schiller quickly realized what he had taken on.
“We called this house the artichoke because when we started tearing into it, it was just one unsightly layer after another,” he said.
The renovation required stripping the home down to the studs. Multiple layers of plaster, paneling and drywall were removed. Drop ceilings hid water stains and improvised electrical work. A trap door in a narrow hallway served as the basement entrance.
“There were even bottles inside the house,” he said. Many of the green bottles he uncovered turned out to be Sunsweet prune juice bottles. Laughing, he said, “This guy was the most regular cat on the block for sure.”
Reese, the builder, had used prune juice bottles to decorate the original porch columns, the living room wall and even the bathtub enclosure. While some original elements couldn’t be salvaged, Schiller saved as many bottles as possible. They will be sold through www.hazelparkbottlehouse.com.
To bring the home’s iconic exterior indoors, The Detroit Wallpaper Co. created custom wallpaper from a photograph of the bottle façade. The pattern appears in the entryway and again in the bathroom.
“It brings a little bit of the cool outdoor façade to the inside,” said Kathy Vargo from On The Rocks Detroit.
The newly restored home now features a modern open-concept layout with skylights, new flooring, new windows, a new roof, insulation, an updated kitchen and bathroom, and a redesigned staircase leading to a basement foundation constructed with the same bottle-covered bricks as the exterior.
A unique bonus room at the back of the home, half-underground with tall ceilings, is accessible from both the basement and a separate rear entry.
Inside, the home is sleek and modern. Outside, Schiller preserved the original “funky and cool” aesthetic.
Even the garage door is painted blue to complement the colorful bottle mosaic.
This house has long been a local tourist attraction. Schiller said that during the renovation, when he was outside polishing bottles, cars would slow to a crawl and people often stopped to ask questions. He’s met visitors from across the country, including a couple now living in Arizona who returned while in town for a wedding just to show the home to friends.
“We’re thrilled to be part of the story,” Schiller said. “But mostly, we’re grateful the house is going to continue to live on for someone for years and years to come.”
The home is listed by Schiller through St. Aubin Real Estate.
Brendel Clark (previously published as Brendel Hightower) writes about real estate and other topics for the Detroit Free Press. Contact her at bclark@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Unique Hazel Park home made with 20,000 bottles hits the market
Reporting by Brendel Clark , Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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