KALEVA, MI - Using 60,000 flawed and chipped pop bottles to build a house in 1941 was either the ultimate cheapskate move, pure genius upcycling.

John Makinen built his unique home 84 years ago in Kaleva, Manistee County.

The house – and Makinen’s artistic vision – has stood the test of time. Today, the Kaleva Historic Bottle House Museum is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and serves as a museum.

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Makinen was a Finnish immigrant and owner of Northwestern Bottling Works Co. Rather than throwing out flawed bottles, he used them as building materials. But don’t be misled; this isn’t a hodgepodge of random bottles.

The house was designed with artistic placement of different colored and shaped bottle

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