The House Rocks

04/17/08 12:00 AM | Up Chucks

Alex Jordan's Infinity room from ground level looking up.

So after posting the post yesterday we headed out and up the The House On The Rock. A truly unique destination, the #1 tourist attraction in Wisconsin says the propaganda. The visionary mind behind the whole thing is Alex Jordan. An architect and a nut-burger according to Jenni. He certainly is a unique fellow that was for sure. The OCD mans man to say the least. The House is extremely weird, then there are the grounds where building after building are linked together through tunnels and ramps and what not. A walking "self guided" tour takes about three hours for each tour. Tour

#1 takes you up to the house where you see the most bizarre rooms stacked offsetting each other, full of Oriental Soshi screens back lit in blue and statues of all manner. Then there is the infinity room an unsupported tapered protrusion 140 feet off the North side of the house that is suspended over the valley floor something like 156 feet below. It is breath taking as is much of the house (photo two is looking toward the needle end from inside). There is no way to do the 2 tours justice in just a few hours. So after the first one ended we went driving north to Spring Green, where we found a nice little bar "The Shed" with great food. I had two Leinenkugel Honey Weiss beers there and a killer burger called the Blooming Idiot. Yum. I liked both so much I bought a Shed beer glass at the bar and a 12 pack of Lienies HW at the Dodgeville Wal*Mart later that very same day.

Side view of Taliesin from Iowa County Rd C.
We also stopped and voyeured some Frank Lloyd Wright houses onto digital memory cards through the modern technologies. The former home of Mr. Wright "Taliesin" is just 6 miles or so from The HOTR, plus there is The School House, and another FLW house all around the curve of highway 23 heading into Spring Green. The Frank Lloyd Wright visiter center and restaurant just west of Taliesin by 2/10ths of a mile was not open for the season, and there were no tours of the houses either, but they are still accessible from the side of the road. So day two of the no longer a mystery Mystery Vacation was a rousing success.
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Three Quarter view of Taliesin.

Day three: We started by finishing our stay at the HOTR Inn. We packed everything in the car except one item each. I left behind my portable charger and spare battery for my Nikon P4 camera (still plugged in) and Jenni left her nightgown on the back of the bathroom door. Of course we didn't know or intentionally leave behind keepsakes for the Inn staff, it is just dumb luck. Once packing was done (if not complete) we headed back to the House to take in tour two. The worlds largest Carousel, some 36 tons worth with 269 animals (not one of which is a horse) in eight rows, 182 chandeliers and 20,000 lights is the mid point of tour two and the exit point as well as you loop back on your way out. There is a room 5 stories high with pipe organs that reach from bottom floor to ceiling, and steam engines and electrical generators to numerous to count that weigh multiple tons each on each of the floors and three and five story doll-house carousels and, and, and...