Maison Picassiette back garden, originally uploaded by LaJoliePetite.

Photographer’s notes: So this guy in Chartres is walking home one day, sees a broken bottle on the side of the road, and decides to make a little mosaic out of it. For the next 30 years he picked up broken glass off the road and carted it home. By the time his wife made him stop he had done the entire house except for the inside of two rooms. Amazing, huh?

Raymond Isidore (1900–1964),

“Few artists can claim to live and breathe their work to the same extent as Raymond Isidore (1900–1964), whose house in Chartres was also his masterpiece. Mosaics of broken glass and crockery adorn the building, its courtyards and interior, covering even the sewing machine and coffee grinder. Only the white sheets in the bedroom were left unadulterated. Yet Raymond Isidore never considered himself to be an artist. A graveyard sweeper by day, he devoted 30 years, 29,000 hours and 15 tons of crockery to this project, in an effort to escape the monotony of his everyday existence. He could probably never have imagined that his house, La Maison Picassiette, would attract over 30,000 visitors each year…” Raw Vision – Linda Goddard discusses one of the most famous of visionary environments LA MAISON PICASSIETTE

Mosaic Art Source – Raymond Isidore & La Maison Picassiette Image Archive