The first stop was at
The House On The Rock in Spring Green, WI. Alex Jordan of Madison, Wisconsin spent his entire life building and designing the house and surrounding area.
It is an architectural marvel built in the 1940's on top of a 60' chimney of rock called Deershelter Rock. The house is 14 rooms, and there is a 375' ramp that takes visitors through the treetops to get to the house.
The infinity room is the 14th room of the house and was finished in 1985. It extends 218 feet out over a scenic valley and is 156 feet high.
It has walls made of 3264 windows (and a few screens). Those who walk to about the middle get a very special view of the tree tops through the floor.
This is the view of the tree tops. It is certainly closer than one would get from a plane. And, yes, that is a hornets nest that was just under the glass!
After the house was built, Jordan built more buildings and began to fill the surrounding area with every kind of collection imaginable. There are pipe organs, antique weapons, coin operated music machines (which play beautiful music), doll houses, chandeliers, and miniature circuses--plus a lot more! This giant whale is just one example.
The Carousel Room contains the world's largest merry-go-round with 269 animals--none of which are horses. The carousel horses are placed in many other locations throughout the tour. An entire workshop operated for years just to repair and re-paint the carousel figures as they were purchased. This carousel has 20,000 lights and 182 chandeliers!
The entrance road to the house features many planters with an oriental serpent theme. One might say that the sheer quantity of items in the place is overwhelming. You could go through it several times and see something you missed before.
Are the collectibles real?? Sources say that some are and some are not. This is the most visited tourist attraction in Wisconsin however, so the intrigue continues.
More on day two will be shared in the next post.
No comments:
Post a Comment