Going down the rabbit hole: Altadena’s Bunny Museum is full of fluffy, floppy-eared art

Southern California is home to an art collection more adorable and fuzzy than anything you could find at the Louvre or Tate Modern. Altadena’s Bunny Museum is full of floppy-eared art installations, sculptures made of cottontails, and thousands of bunnies.

Museum co-founders Candace Frazee and Steve Lubanski began their collection when Lubanski gifted Frazee a stuffed bunny for Valentine’s Day. They continued to show their love through lagomorphs, giving each other rabbit-themed gifts and referring to one another as “honey bunny.” Over the years, the gifts multiplied like, well, rabbits, and the collection now includes 37,653 pieces and counting.

Frazee hopes to educate visitors on the role the rabbit plays in popular culture, folklore, and superstitions. Rabbit fact cards located throughout the museum tell nearly every bunny tale imaginable. 

“Bunnies are a part of the vernacular of the world,” Frazee says. “Television sets had rabbit ear antennas and we use the expressions ‘going down a rabbit hole’ or ‘rabbit trail.’”

The Bunny Museum began as a private collection in the couple’s Pasadena home and opened to the public in 1998. In 2017, they expanded and relocated to the new location in Altadena. The museum, known as “The Hoppiest Place in the World,” welcomes visitors from across the globe.

Guests are invited to draw their own hare with chalk for an interactive display outside the museum.

The Bunny Museum’s co-founders (and honey bunnies) Candace Frazee and Steve Lubanski. They have been together for 27 years and the museum pays homage to their love and passions.

The holiday room contains Easter, Halloween, and Christmas bunny décor. The museum displays its collection floor-to-ceiling “salon-style.”

Butterscotch and Jumper are Flemish Giants, a large breed of domestic rabbit. They live inside the museum in a gallery called “The Warren,” named for elaborate bunny-burrow tunnels.

The museum’s restroom is home to more rabbit trinkets.

LaVonne Seaworth wears a bunny disguise in the main gallery. She collects rabbit-themed wares and has donated a large portion of her collection to the Bunny Museum. She travels from Florida each year to visit the museum.

Bunny knick-knacks made from seashells on display. The museum was recognized by the Guinness World Records in 1999 for having the “largest collection of rabbit-related items.”

Freya Lee, a visitor from Texas, pets the resident cats, Poppy and Baby. This couch is positioned in front of a flat-screen television for guests to watch rabbit-themed movies such as Zootopia and Peter Rabbit.

The kitchen gallery contains bunny foods, pot holders, dishes, and more rabbit-themed housewares.

Rabbit riding the “Bling Bike,” an art piece made by local artist Art Romeo. The bicycle is decorated with eight pounds of vintage costume jewelry.

If you go

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