Oh goodness, I almost forgot to tell you that Mr. Kelly used approximatley 30,000 bottles before he completed his house. He did not even wash the bottles before he used them. But, I guess that was because the water lines had not been laid
yet. Water was $5.00 a barrel in those days. That was very expensive, so you couldn't waste it on washing bottles.
THUMB NAILS OF THE BOTTLE HOUSE
(If you don't want to look at all the photos, just scroll to the bottom of the page.)
The Murphey Era at the Bottle House spanned from 1936 until 1954
With the help of Bessie Moffat, Lewis Murphey took care of the Bottle House and invited tourists to view
the townsite. This was the beginning of Rhyolite becoming a popular ghost town, and the start of the long
tradition of being greated at the Bottle House. The Thumbnails below are from the Murphey Era.