Who's been to the "House on the Rock" in Wisconsin?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Next summer, in early July, I’m planning to swing through Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa on a “visit old friends and baseball pilgrimage” combo trip (also “on a motorcycle”, but that’s another story). I’ll be making a visit to Chicago for a Cubs game, Milwaukee for a Brewers game, stopping over in Madison, WI and then heading to the “Field of Dreams” field in Iowa.

En route it seems I can stop by a quirky place called The House on the Rock in SW Wisconsin, which I first learned of through reading Neil Gaiman’s book *American Gods *where Neil noted in the preface that it’s a real place. I’d love to visit it but would only have about 2 hours to spend there, is that reasonable?

I see the hours of the self-tours of the place are 9-6pm Mon-Fri, what if I stay there overnight at the inn that’s attached to it? Are the “attractions” locked down at 6pm or is there extended access for on-site guests versus day visitors?

(I’d call and ask them directly but it’s off-season for them until the spring, so I figured I’d see if I could get the info from the SDMB - though maybe I’ll try the email link for info, there could be someone reading and replying out of season.)

2

2 hours definitely isn’t going to cut it to see the whole thing. It’s HUGE and it only gets progressively crazier and crazier. I suppose you could do only one section, but I couldn’t imagine anyone with even a modicum of appreciation for the weird doing the first part and not wanting to see the rest of it.

3

As someone who grew up in West-Central WI I of course have heard of it and have been there. I don’t know about the hours but I’m sure that can be found on their website.

It is worth seeing if for no other reason than its an amazing collection of just about anything you can think of. You could do it in two hours if you just kind of skimmed the collection. IMO you likely want to give yourself six hours to really appreciate it.

4

We went there this past summer as my aunt has a house in a town only an hour away from Spring Green, WI where it is located. Our main incentive to check it out was that no one could describe it to me. All I ever got was “it’s like a museum, but then again, it isn’t”. To me, it was a nicer version of visiting “Wall Drug” in South Dakota, which is equally bat shit crazy.

I’d be inclined to say 2 hours is not enough, but I doubt we were there for longer than about four hours. It really depends on how much time you want to spend in each room. As I recall, it is something close 4 miles to walk the whole thing from end to end, and some of the rooms have an amazing amount of detail. As such, you’ll want to spend a bit of time in those. For example, there are several full size room “music boxes” which are primitive animatronic robots that play musical instruments, and play a song. Assuming you want to stay for the whole song, that will kill several minutes in each of those rooms. Likewise, some of the rooms, like the one with the full size blue whale attacking a boat and squid have a spiral around the room covered in detailed ship models, which will eat up a ton of time. Most people also spend a considerable amount of time at the world’s largest Merry-Go-Round when you get to that, because the detail there is also truly amazing. If you’re into doll houses, or suits of armor, or cars, or guns, you may find yourself being sucked into those rooms as well.

It really depends on what kind of person you are. So really, I would treat it like you treat an art gallery or seeing the Grand Canyon. I have gone to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Grand Canyon, spent a few hours, and saw pretty much everything. That said, in both places, I encountered people who enjoyed staring at something for hours on end to the exclusion of everything else, and those folks would have needed days to see what I felt could be viewed in a few hours. If you are the type that breezes through museums, two hours could be long enough.

And really, if two hours is all you have, then it will have to do, because I can’t imagine why anyone would be up there unless they were already in the area. Just get a map of the place in advance and make an effort to plan out your visit so you can see the most in the two hours you are there.

5

Been there. Quirky ain’t the right word for it.

If you have any interest in architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin is right nearby and you can take a tour of that as well. Hell, even if you don’t, “Taliesin” comes up as obscure trivia enough that it might be worth it to say you’ve been there. IIRC it was a Jeopardy answer last week (and yes, I got it, because I’ve been there).

6

I’ve been there twice, once as a pre-teen and again when I was a teenager (I’m from PA, my family was visiting a relative in Madison). The first time we probably took 4-5 hours to go through, and by the end there was a definite sense of “I’m not entirely sure we will ever make it out of this place alive.” When we returned a few years later it only took maybe 2 hours, but I’m pretty sure we didn’t go through the whole house, either because we missed some sections or because they were taken off the tour.

It’s definitely worth a stop, IMO. More time would be advisable, but you should be able to get a sense of what a complete acid trip the place is in two hours. I can still remember walking into the “carousel room” and “the room with the whale” as a 12-year-old and being almost overcome by the awesomeness of it all. I’ve heard people describe the place as a tourist trap, and while I can’t entirely disagree with them, it’s the strangest, craziest, most over-the-top tourist trap there is. It’s like you’re walking through the mind of some eccentric collector who gradually descends into obsessive madness, all for your enjoyment. A truly unique experience.

7

Incidentally, the story goes that the guy who built the actual house that forms the kernel of the sprawling House on the Rock complex had been snubbed by Frank Lloyd Wright at some point and built the house as a parody of a FLW house. The story is probably made up, but you could certainly see how the House on the Rock’s very precarious-looking construction and the interior full of cramped unusable space reflects some common criticism of Wright’s houses.

8

I went once and before I was there an hour, I couldn’t get out fast enough. It’s not cool, it’s like climbing into a crazy persons head. When they tear it down, I’ll bet they find skeletons in the walls.

9

I did House on the Rock in around 3 hours and we had to rush to get through at the end, so 2 is really pushing it. It’s a huge place with tons to see. It is worth a visit, though.

The hotel, as I recall, is not on site but actually down the road a bit closer to town (Dodgeville). Maybe a couple miles away? I don’t know if they offer extended hours.

10

Never again.

I took the family years ago to tour Wright’s architectural school. That was amazing.

Then we went to HOTR.

Cognitive dissonance to the MAX. Tacky cognitive dissonance.

I’ve written about my experience there before, on this site. I won’t resurrect those memories. Not now, maybe not ever.

11

I went there as a kid, then went there with my husband (and his first time) as an adult. Two hours is not enough time to do the whole thing, but you do not want to be there longer than that, either. It is one screwed-up place. It is a poorly-lit, tacky carnival funhouse with stuff arranged by an apparent madman - and I wouldn’t trust the provenance of most of the “collections” - and fortunately many exits to the outside world along the path. If you want a weird-ass tale to tell to friends, go for the two hours and marvel at the sheer amount of crap you must have missed. If you want a great experience, try Taliesin instead.

12

The thing is, even if I stay at the inn at the HotR I’d be arriving there around 7:30pm and plan on leaving around 11am the next day to follow my itinerary. What I’d like is to be able to wander the place after arriving for an hour or two, and then again the next morning before leaving.

Maybe I’ll skip HotR and visit Taliesin in the interest of time, but I had hoped to see the giant carousel if nothing else (which is featured in American Gods, a book I quite liked). As for Taliesin, I know about it and would be sort of interested in seeing it first-hand, but am content with my indirect knowledge of the place. After all he designed it to his own scale (i.e., to suit himself) and once shouted at a too-tall student of his that he was “destroying the scale!” - who was 6-foot-4 IIRC, and I’m 6-2".

13

Keep in mind that this is not the American Museum of Natural History. A lot of items are reproductions and there are not a lot of signs describing what you are looking at. There is little attempt to tie objects to the past. Its like some crazy guy just collected everything he could and then just stuck them behind glass for the relatives to see when they visited for the holidays.

The carousel is awesome.

14

Talesin is very cool.

House on the Rock is where my nightmares come from - its junk - endless and endless rooms of crap.

15

We went. Never again. It was like walking around inside a migraine. We were approached by a small party of older ladies beseeching us to tell them how they could get out. We offered our sympathy.

16

Well, I had a great time when I went in my 20’s, in the 90’s, and perhaps a bit drunk. I would go again. The carousel is awesome.

17

Hmmm. I hadn’t heard of Wall Drug until now and I think it’ll be on my itinerary now. Thanks!

Perfect!

18

I’ve never been, but I used to live in WI and this is basically what I’ve heard from everyone I know who’s ever visited.

I like Neil Gaiman, but I kind of feel he owes the world an apology for encouraging innocent people to visit the House on the Rock.

19

I’ve been there a few times and have never experienced the menacing aura that some are ascribing to it. It is definitely weird and tacky, but the Infinity Room alone is worth the price of admission

20

It didn’t bother you to watch the calliope spin as hideous circus music played and bizarre totem animal fetish animals spun around on the carousel as you noted more conventional horses nailed to the walls all around you and as you turned your eyes to the ceiling to escape the flashing lights you beheld numberless female mannequins wearing old prom and bridesmaids dresses and sporting styrofoam “angel wings” hanging from the ceiling, as shown in this photo:
Imgur

Okay, then.