Southern California is a pretty quirky place, you might have heard. This quirk-a-tude plays out in numerous ways, but one of the most delightful, and delightfully offbeat, is the proliferation of home museums — museums inside private houses — that focus on a single theme.
Forey Ackerman's sci-fi-esque Ackermansion comes to mind (RIP to both Mr. Ackerman and his memorable museum), but there've been a bouquet of abodes doubling as museums over the last few years, with one very well-known warren sitting at the top of the carrot hill: The Bunny Museum of Pasadena.
Founded by Candace Frazee and her husband Steve Lubanski, The Bunny Museum is in a private home, or part of a private home, owned by the couple. What makes it all the more remarkable is that over 30,000 rabbit-themed items are now in the collection, a collection that began when Mr. Lubanski gave Ms. Frazee, his then girlfriend, a plush bunny on Valentine's Day 1992.
From there, things flowered, or, um, leafed out, in the way a carrot top gets leafy.
But if you've visited The Bunny Museum in recent years, with its keep-your-arms-close-to-you passages and stuffed animal-stuffed backroom, you've probably pondered that this little warren was outgrowing its space.
And so it shall, in the months ahead, officially: The home museum was incorporated in August, and approved as a nonprofit, and has begun a Kickstarter to help fund new digs.
Ms. Frazee says the announcement regarding The Bunny Museum's still-veiled bigger location, which will also be in Pasadena, will be made on Valentine's Eve 2015, a nostalgic nod to when the bunny-cute ball first got rolling.
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As for those Kickstarter backer thank yous? Admission to the new location, shot glasses, and other long-earred items are nabbable, depending on how much you donate.
It's been a popular place, too, for celebrities to visit — Huell Howser cheerfully called upon The Bunny Museum, oh yes he did — so perhaps a famous person will lend some furry-tailed love to the fresh spot.
And, it is true: We feel a little bittersweet. Museums taking up a chunk of a private residence are flush with character, but thousands of people have been to the snug Pasadena nook that's home to the world's largest rabbit collection, per the Guinness Book of World Records. In short? It has been enjoyed by many in its current plot.
Until we learn where we must hop to find the museum's new warren, we can enjoy this short piece starring Elijah Wood, an instant Funny or Die, Bunny Museum classic.
