Things were hopping at The Bunny Museum in Altadena, where a crane hoisted an accessory dwelling unit onto the property on Tuesday, June 30.
The museum, long known for its eclectic, quirky, renowned and mammoth collection of bunny items and artifacts, burned to the ground in the Eaton fire on Jan. 7, 2025.
It was among the more than 9,000 consumed structures taken in the catastrophe.
Since then, the scorched lot has been showing signs of its former quirky self amid the town’s slow rebuild and recovery, including the installation of a 14-foot-tall stainless steel bunny statue of Scanner the Rabbit.
Then came this week, when the museum joined in the broader push for housing in the town.
The new structure on the lot is the only state-approved single-family modular model home in Altadena, Kim Andrews, president of Team AB Builds, which owns the structure.
The model home was built in Patterson, and two halves were securely wrapped, loaded onto two flatbed transport trucks, and delivered directly to the museum property. They were lifted by crane onto a temporary railroad tie foundation.
Once staged, the model home will be used by Team AB Builds to show how modular construction can provide a streamlined path for Eaton fire rebuilds, ADUs, multifamily housing, and commercial projects.
A grand opening date and time for the temporary display is yet to the determined. The Team AB Builds home will be on site at The Bunny Museum, at 2605 Lake Ave., until construction on the museum begins.
Steve Lubanski and Candace Frazee, The Bunny Museum co-founders, will not be living in the model home.
The couple has been busy preparing to reopen the Altadena gem, most recently installing a 14-foot-tall, 1,100-lb. stainless steel statue called Scanner to watch over the lot.
“We love the new, beautiful, shiny bunny recently unveiled,” Andrews said. The Bunny Museum’s central location in town, the most heavily traveled intersection in Altadena, makes it an easy choice to display the home.
Before the Eaton fire, ADUs — or backyard housing units — and modular homes, would not have received such fanfare. But after the catastrophe, they’ve received renewed attention as a cost-effective, swift way for residents to get back onto their lots, with hopes of a primary residence to come.
That matters amid what is proving to be a slow-paced recovery. While the din of construction work is alive and well in the area, as more property owners have taken initial steps to rebuild, gaps remain.
Many Eaton fire survivors remain in limbo as they navigate rising rebuilding costs not fully covered by insurance payouts, while federal assistance caps have left gaps in coverage.
Companies that sell modular homes and ADUs, along with local leaders, have touted the housing.
Back in November, six other companies began showcasing their prefabricated and modular homes to prospective buyers, many of them wildfire survivors, looking for affordable options to rebuild on their property.
AMEG with New Economics for Women, Villa, Azure, Conex Modular, Liv Connected, and Sola/Model Z all began exhibiting their homes.
Such homes are often associated with accessory dwelling units (ADUs). But they can also be used as single-family homes.
The Bunny Museum’s co-founders said they are excited to help Altadena rebuild and reinvent itself.
“We feel so privileged to have the model home on The Bunny Museum property,” said Frazee. “We love that the property can be put to use while we wait for a permit from the county.”
That means a physical museum is in the works at the corner.
Construction on the “Hoppiest Place on Earth,” recognized by the Smithsonian, visited by Huell Howser, and holder of the world record for the “Largest Collection of Rabbit-related Items” according to Guinness World Records, is slated to begin next year.