Over The Top Collections: The House On The Rock

Located sixty miles west of Madison, Wisconsin, just south of the Wisconsin river and two hundred miles northwest of Chicago, The House On The Rock is a collector’s dream. The complex consists of the main house built in the 1940s by Mr. Alex Jordan in a Japanese inspired style, that today attracts half a million visitors from around the world to its gardens, home and housed collections. Included in the complex are a resort and an inn. Built as a home, some say “love nest”, it sits atop a rock pillar called Deer Shelter Rock overlooking the picturesque Wyoming Valley and very near Frank Lloyd Wright’s home “Taliesin” in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Reports have Mr. Wright criticizing Mr. Jordan’s ability as an architect which lead to the house being located there.

The Infinity room extends two hundred feet out over the scenic valley and one hundred fifty above the valley floor. The horizontal spire shaped room features three thousand plus windows and affords a fantastic view of the valley below. Mr. Jordan was a life-long collector, and maintained the Attraction until 1988, when it was sold to Art Donaldson, also a collector and businessman.

At present the gardens and some buildings are being updated or replaced in an effort to better accommodate all visitors. This long term renovation will be complete in 2010.

While intriguing , the main house is of passing interest when compared to the enormity of the items in the collections. While each visitor will find different aspects of the Attraction their own “The Best Part”, I have always been impressed by the huge (World’s Largest Indoor) carousel with its collection of over 235 animals, since I first saw it years ago when my daughters were very young.

Divided into rooms or areas:

Streets of Yesterday features store fronts and their contents

Heritage of the Sea (200 ft sea monster)

Tribute to Nostalgia

Music of Yesteryear (mechanical bands or instruments playing)

Spirit of Aviation (planes suspended)

The Organ Room (with huge pipe organs)

The Circus Room

The Christmas Room

The Galleries

The Doll Carousel Room

And The Mill House, which features one of the world’s largest fire places.

Also in the collections are forty magnificent beer steins, hundreds of fire arms, 250 doll houses and 650 porcelain-head dolls, old autos, Oriental figures, band instruments,and so much more.

Some reports question the authenticity of all the items but as a collection, this is way over the top.

It is found in a beautiful part of the country, with rolling hills, river valleys and famous Wisconsin cows and cheese. The area itself has many great attractions, including the American Players Theater, Cave of the Mounds, The Wisconsin Dells, and even the Mustard Museum in Mt. Horeb, where trolls rule the streets.

Antique shops for browsing are always an added attraction for us collectors, and can be found throughout the region, with especially nice places on the western edge of Madison’s beltway. Artisans inhabit many villages in the area especially in Mineral Point. In summer, craft and art fairs are plentiful.

As always I wish you good hunting, and may your search for the next addition to your collection prove exciting and successful.