Bob here, waddling in with a BOBortunity that takes “thinking outside the box” to a whole new level, mostly because someone went and built the box on a rock!
A big congratulatory wing flap goes to Bev, our Week 41 Get Your BOB On Contest winner, for introducing us to House on the Rock in Spring Green, Wisconsin.
If you’re picturing a cozy cottage perched on a boulder, hold on to your tail feathers.
This is a place where an unusual home grew into a sprawling world of imagination, enormous collections, and sights that might make even a rubber duck forget to squeak.
The story begins with Alex Jordan and his dream of a retreat above the Wisconsin countryside.
Built atop a towering sandstone formation called Deer Shelter Rock, the original house offered a lofty escape with remarkable views.
Jordan opened it to the public in 1960, turning his private vision into an attraction visitors could experience for themselves.
And then his imagination kept going.
Over the years, Jordan expanded beyond the house, collecting and building on a massive scale.
What began as a rock-top retreat became something much harder to describe: part architectural adventure, part collection of curiosities, and part “well, I certainly wasn’t expecting THAT around the corner!”
Take the Infinity Room. Opened in 1985, this glass-lined extension stretches 218 feet, with its final 140 feet reaching unsupported above the valley floor.
Its narrowing shape creates the impression of a passage that goes on and on.
Then there’s the carousel, which first turned over Easter weekend in 1981.
With 269 animals, 20,000 lights, and 182 chandeliers, it’s less a little merry-go-round and more a full-scale celebration of extravagance.
For a duck interested in all things aquatic, Heritage of the Sea is another attention-grabber.
Its enormous, approximately 200-foot-long sea creature shares the exhibit with an extensive collection of model ships.
What makes House on the Rock so interesting is the way its history unfolds through expansion.
The original house wasn’t the end of Jordan’s idea: it was just the beginning.
A retreat became an attraction,
and the attraction became a place where collecting, creating,
and sheer curiosity could keep growing.
A big, enthusiastic wing flap goes to Bev for this winning BOBortunity!
You’ve introduced us to a Wisconsin destination where a house is only the beginning and where “just one more room” sounds like a promise of another surprise.
NEVER MISS A
