Treherne Glass Bottle Buildings

A small park in Treherne, Manitoba, Canada contains several glass bottle buildings

In a tiny tree-lined park in a small Manitoba town, you’ll find several glass bottle structures: a house, a church, and a wishing well. The Glass Bottle Buildings in Treherne attract visitors from far and wide.

Wall of a glass bottle house showing wood framing, glass bottles encased in cement, and a shingled roof

The house and church have a wooden frame. A collection of glass bottles encased in cement form the walls. Different shapes and colours of bottles create designs.

The structures were built by Bob and Dora Cain and their friend Fred Harp. They originally resided on the Cain farm. Thousands of people visited their farm over the decades to view the structures.

Front of a one-room glass bottle house with pitched roof and the number 1982 and the words Bob and Dora marked on it in bottles

Inspired by bottle structures they’d seen on their travels, the Cains built the house in 1982. Harp did much of the woodwork and helped with the overall construction. The house, made with 4,000 whiskey, wine, rum, gin, and other bottles, took two and a half months to build. Beer bottles were used for the name and date lettering on the front. They collected the bottles from socials in the local area and a club in Winnipeg, where a friend worked.

A display board containing photos and newspaper articles — *A display inside the house contains photographs and newspaper articles highlighting the history of the buildings*

A collection of different coloured and shaped bottles — *There is also a display of bottles similar to ones used to construct the buildings*

Front of a small church built from glass bottles

The church was built in the summer of 1983. It took three and a half months and 5,000 bottles.

Interior of a glass bottle church showing pews, pulpit, stained glass window, and pump organ

The church’s stained glass windows were donated from the Anglican Church in Cypress River. The pews came from Winnipeg and were cut in half to fit. Bob Cain and Fred Harp made the pulpit. The two chandeliers originally hung in a St. Boniface church and are over 100 years old. The pump organ was donated by the Anglican church in MacGregor, where the Cains were married. The spindles inside the church are made from Kahlua bottles.

The church has seen a few weddings take place in it. It is also a popular spot for wedding photos.

Wishing well made of glass bottles with a white wooden roof

Cain and Harp built the wishing well in 1987 with 500 bottles. It took two and a half weeks to complete.

Toilet and hand basin inside a glass bottle restroom house

An August 2020 article in The Graphic Leader describes how the toilet facilities were built the same year as the wishing well. Dora Cain didn’t want all of the visitors tracking through their home to the bathroom anymore. It is made from 1,000 bottles. The Cain’s plumber son made the restroom functional.

Dora passed away in 2002 at the age of 87, Bob in 2006 at age 94. The family donated the glass bottle buildings to the community of Treherne. Six community organizations worked together for the next year to create the park where the buildings now reside. The structures were carefully lifted, loaded, and moved. The grand opening of Glass Bottle Buildings occurred on August 10, 2008.

There are a couple of other museums in Treherne. Treherne Museum contains a variety of objects from early life in the area and apparently has one of the largest gun collections in Western Canada. It is open to the public June to August. The building housing the Second Chance Car Museum can hold up to 130 cars and is usually full with vehicles from years 1918 to 2018. I haven’t been to either museum, so I cannot comment more about them.

If you’re looking for a place to grab a bite to eat before or after visiting the glass bottle buildings, L & J’s Drive-In along Highway 2 at the northern edge of town is a popular spot. It serves burgers and other hot food items as well as a variety of ice cream treats. It has outdoor counter service only, but there is a large grassy area with picnic tables in shaded spots.

Treherne is located about 124 kilometres (77 miles) southwest of Winnipeg. It is also about 124 kilometres southeast of Brandon, Manitoba’s second-largest city. Glass Bottle Buildings are at the corner of Alexander and Railway. The buildings are open spring through fall.

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