The Bottle House

Old Man in the Peanut Secret Hideout Ish (Atlas Obscura User)

Mosaic artist Susan Maynard built The Bottle House one bucket of mortar at a time.

This 97 square foot cottage is made entirely of bottles, mortar, rebar and wood and is found in Slackerville, one of Austin’s last bastions of old-charm and character, established in 1979.

Since 2009, Gina Tawil and Austin artist Ismael Cavazos have rented and cared for The Bottle House. They have made it the secret hide-out for the “Old Man in the Peanut,” “the Wizard of Aus(tin) ,” and the “Sage of the Leguminati, a series of carved peanuts. The artwork is the curious result of pareidolia, peanuts, and a dash of Xacto knife carving. The Bottle House is currently the only place in the world to see such peanut carvings.

Update October 2018: Call the number you will be told the old owner of the property is deceased and tours are no longer given. The house is no longer maintained or repaired and is beginning to fall apart.

Know Before You Go

Take the horse-shoe road around back of End of an Ear Records in Slackerville to get to The Bottle House. Call to set an appointment to get inside the Bottle House or visit on open days as listed on the website.