House on the Rock

Paul and Bethany hadn't ever been and wanted to go so yesterday we ventured out to Spring Green, Wisconsin to see the House on the Rock. We've been before with Hayley and Matt (maybe I blogged about it, but very possibly after looking at my archives, maybe I didn't?), and I went when I was in high school. It's turning out to be another must-see in our family, similar to the Biggest Ball of Twine.

This is a deeply weird place, House on the Rock. I absolutely LOVE the actual house part because it is randomly arranged and has nice little niche spots and little sitting nooks in the strangest places. Here are some of the pictures from in the house: 

There are no real rooms for a specific purpose. There is an area with 2 ovens, a fridge and a stovetop, but I did not notice a sink or any cupboards to store kitchen things. So was it a kitchen? 

There are lots of places to sit. 

Lots of rock in the sitting areas

lots of mood lighting and strangely shaped furniture

There are also tree trunks/branches randomly placed around the house, along with many panels of stained glass

Lots of levels. There was no "main" level. Everything sort of existed in its own level

How can you reach some of the books? 

Strange collections of musical instruments and a dragon

Like I said, cozy sitting nooks

This was the normalest area of the place, but the ceilings were very low. Tall people would not do well here, nor is it conducive to much walking around without hunching over.

Bells in your house? O....K....

I am puzzled as to why the view to outside is blocked. Yes, stained glass is pretty, but is it any prettier than the potential view of this house? The view would be fantastic.

again with the low ceilings. I struggle to come up with a reason for the floor half way up, but the very low (carpeted) ceiling. You can see Paul's bottom half ascending the stairs.

more seating in a low ceiling area (again with carpeting on the ceiling)

The infinity room is quite cool and exists for the sole purpose of the view.

Yes, we wore masks. This far out in the room, it bounces (because it is unsupported out this far). It made me slightly anxious.

See? The view is amazing.

I like this bench. Bethany looks kind of small on this end,

But much bigger on this end.

The rest of House on the Rocks is 2 warehouses full of cray-cray.

creepy dolls

a pretend creepy 1800s village street

creepy nautical things

a giant creepy sea monster vignette

with a giant creepy whale mouth

giant creepy assemblages of instruments playing or not playing music (you put a token in and music plays)

A really very huge, red, brightly lit, creepy carousel that you can't ride. 

They are into the creepy. Bethany kept saying, "This is horrible. I love it!"

The creepy hallway from one warehouse to the next.

can organs be creepy? This one looks like it has rows of teeth.

a mammoth creepy chandelier in a creepy warehouse odd things all over the place.

a creepy doll carousel

creepy dollhouses. There were HUNDREDS of them.

creepy circus vignettes in miniature

creepy suits of armour 

2 1/2 hours of walking. I couldn't take pictures of all of it. There was a collection of guns and pistols, toy trucks, a tiled car, Burma Shave signs, fake tiaras and crowns, and stuff I have since forgotten because SENSORY OVERLOAD. Everything was only dimly lit and smelled musty. By the end we were dying to find the exit because it was just SO OVERWHELMING. We felt like we had been beated in the head by displays. But we will have to go back again sometime!