A home built with bottles, rocks, mortar and telephone poles is for sale, and interest has been high among the curious and intrigued.
A recent open house of the Avra Valley home was well attended, especially by neighbors eager to get an inside look at the unique architecture.
βI felt like a museum curator,β said Holly Greenhalgh, with Coldwell Banker Realty, who is listing the home. βThe comments were so intriguing.β
She said many neighbors wanted to get a peek.
βThereβs a huge amount of curiosity and fascination,β Greenhalgh said. βI donβt know if a historical society-type of group would like to see it.β
The 2,700-square-foot home has three bedrooms and three bathrooms.
The shower is built into the rock wall and flows like a waterfall.
It is insulated with thousands of bottles, has a guest cottage, outdoor kitchen, three fireplaces, two wood-burning stoves and built-in concrete furniture.
In a 1978 Tucson Citizen article, appropriately titled βThrowing no stones,β Theodore and Meletis Bryson spoke of their creation.
In 1964, the couple gathered bottles and mixed mortar to build a carport next to their mobile home.
Over the years, discarded bottles from roadsides and landfills became part of the walls of their new home.
βThe bottles keep the house really comfortable,β the late Theodore Bryson told the Citizen at the time. βInsulation is basically air pockets and what has more air than an empty bottle?β
There were no blueprints or measuring.
βWe didnβt have any construction experience,β he said. βWhen we started, we even had to ask how to mix cement.β
Bryson, a chiropractor, worked nights and weekends on the project, and his wife hauled bottles from the Marana dump.
The subsequent owner added some touches to the home but kept the original βbottle effectβ intact.
Greenhalgh knows the person who was taking care of the house and was approached about listing it.
βI do a lot of unique properties, maybe not as unique as this one,β she said. βWe tried to get an appraisal but were turned down by three appraisers because it is so unique.β
She was advised to use the square footage for pricing of similar-sized homes in the area.
βThereβs no comparable homes, no apples-to-apples,β Greenhalgh said. βThis is apples to pineapples.β
The listing price was set at $432,500 for the home that sits on 2.5 acres at 1800 N. Camino Altar.
Greenhalgh said an artist would be an ideal buyer for the property, or an investor who would operate it as a bed-and-breakfast.
βIt does capture your attention,β she said. βSome people think itβs like a cave, but it doesnβt feel that way when you are inside.β
Several open houses are scheduled for the coming week.
Contact Holly Greenhalgh at Coldwell Banker at 520-904-7514 or via email at holly.greenhalgh@azmoves.com for more information.