House on the Rock

   The House on the Rock is the ultimate roadside attraction! It’s so bizarre that it’s impossible to adequately describe it. The tickets are kind of expensive but they’re well worth the price.

    The creator of this unusual place, Alex Jordan, was born in Wisconsin in 1914. He bounced from job to job before finding his true calling – hand building the original house which was most likely inspired by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright who lived only 10 minutes away. In 1960, after discovering that curious people were willing to pay to tour the house, Jordan opened it to visitors. The next 20 years were devoted to building a rambling, maze-like museum stuffed with massive collections of all kinds of things. Highlights are a huge carousel with 269 animals and 20,000 lights, collections of musical instruments that play on their own when coins are deposited, and the Organ Room with spiral staircases, and bridge snaking around sculptures created from dozens of large copper kettles and other discarded industrial equipment.

  There are three ticket options. The most limited ticket allows access to the original house which features the Infinity Room, a 218’ spear that extends over a 156’ valley without any visible supports. The other two ticket options include the original house plus the museum with the most expensive ticket giving access to all rooms. All tickets include admission to a museum dedicated to Alex Jordan’s life and creativity. Allow plenty of time to see it all; it took us four hours.

    The original house is not accessible due to many steps. Visitors who can not tour the house are given a discount. The rest of the property is accessible to the extent that there are not any steps but there are many long ramps. A lift is used to access a portion of the museum. It was broken when we visited so some backtracking was necessary. The Streets of Yesteryear and the Music of Yesteryear sections have pathways with dips and steep hills. Use caution so that you’re not caught unaware by the changes. Most wheelchair users will need assistance due to all of the hills and the size of the museum. The museum is pretty dark so visitors with poor vision may have problems seeing some of the displays.

     A section of the parking lot is signed for RVs plus the accessible parking lot has spaces that are long enough for short RVs. House  43.09883, -90.13634