The Bunny Museum, one of Southern California’s most unique and unusual attractions, has moved to Altadena.

The new and expanded museum at 2605 Lake Ave. is just a hop, skip and jump away from its former Pasadena site.

But its inventory has grown — a lot.

A massive collection of bunny-related items

“We currently have over 33,000 bunny items,” said Candace Frazee, who co-owns the attraction along with her husband, Steve Lubanski. “The joke is that we’ve been packing for 10 years because we were pretty much out of room when we opened in Pasadena. We’ve always dreamed of moving.”

The Bunny Museum began on Valentine’s Day in 1993 with one bunny — Lubanski’s gift to Frazee, who was then his girlfriend. They opened their home to the public in March 1998 with about 7,000 bunny items of every shape and size.

Since then the inventory has grown like … well, like breeding rabbits.

Guinness world records

To get a sense of the museum’s collection and its growth trajectory consider this: In August 1999, it received the Guinness World Record for the most bunny items in the world — 8,437. In 2011, Guinness updated that record to reflect an expanded count of 28,423 items. And although the collection has now topped 33,000, it keeps growing.

“We buy each other something just about every day,” Frazee said with a smile.

Grand opening set for March 20

She’s been busy in recent weeks arranging the tens of thousands of stuffed bunnies and bunny-related merchandise that is scattered throughout the building. A “Grand Hoppenin” is planned for March 20 to unveil the new museum.

Visitors will get the chance to view everything from nine Rose Parade float bunnies and bunny-themed furniture to antiques, bunny-inspired contemporary art, ceramic and glass bunnies and a large ceiling-suspended bunny perched atop a massive carrot, among other attractions.

A scary bunny room

The museum, which also serves as the couple’s home, is in the same building as Lubanski’s Open Road Bicycle Shop, which also recently relocated from Pasadena. The museum additionally features a bunny library and a bunny warren where live rabbits will live and play.

And visitors in search of something a bit edgier can check out the “Chamber of Hop Horrors.” But be forewarned — you must be at least 13 years old to see it.

Suspended overhead is a 6-foot, ferocious looking rabbit with an evil grin on his face. And some of the smaller bunnies in the room look decidedly angry.

“We’re also going to have photos of bunnies that were used in scientific experiments,” Frazee said. “But this will not be open to anyone younger than 13.”

LeeAnne Rowe, 34, of Burbank plans to bring an original bunny-collage picture she created to the museum’s March 20 grand opening.

“This is something I used to do in high school,” she said. “I traced a picture on cardboard and then I cut pieces out of magazines that have the same colors and put them in.”

The effect, she said, is much like a paint-by-numbers painting. The collage is a close-up of a grinning rabbit that seems to owe at least some its lineage to Bugs Bunny.

Rowe said she discovered The Bunny Museum about nine years ago.

“I went there with a friend and we had the best time!” she said. “We still talk about it to this day. It’s an eclectic and charming kind of place. I like to go to places that are not the norm. I went to a potato museum in Canada and I want to go to a banana museum at the Salton Sea.”

Frazee said her clientele is more diverse than one might expect.

“When we first opened we thought it would just be families,” she said. “But it turned out that hipsters like it. A lot of movie people come in for inspiration. We also get a lot of artists and photography classes that come in. And we get people in bunny costumes. We get fun and crazy people from all around the world.”

A “visionary” place

Paul Koudounaris, who serves on the museum’s advisory board, put the enterprise into perspective.

“This doesn’t fall into the category of traditional museums,” he said. “It’s more a part of Southern California’s visionary culture. I’m sure some people might have thought Candace was nuts when she said she was going to open a rabbit museum in her home. But she went on to achieve that and now she’s made it even bigger. She is a visionary.”