The House on the Rock is a major tourist attraction in the Upper Midwest, combining a high-kitsch imitation of Frank Lloyd Wright (who lived nearby) with Ultimate Bachelor Pad interiors, and an eclectic, undercurated series of mini-museums (The World’s Largest Carrousel! A lifesize figure of a blue whale! Coin-operated orchestras!).
I went to HotR in '87 or '88. I was one of the coolest damn places I’ve ever seen. What leaves the biggest impression were the set-ups of instruments that played on their own. Now that they have a golf course I think a return trip next year with my nephews is in order.
Perhaps here’s there for a conference with others of his kind. Is Kerry the one no-one can remember? Because that would explain a lot.
(Just read Neil Gaiman’s American Gods.)
Wow, what a surreal site for a meeting of ANY kind. It’s so…so…CREEPY! And dark!
I’ve visited a few times and also read up on how the “architect” and owner built the place up creating fakes and throwing tantrums the whole time. What a nut bucket!
And certainly nowhere close to the talent of FLW…even given his shortcomings.
I went in August 2003 after reading Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, and loved the experience. I’ve honestly never been to another place quite like it (and certainly never will)! I’ve recommended the House On the Rock to many others since then.
Got to take a contrasting stance here - I HATED the House on the Rock! Four hours of my life I wish I’d spent elsewhere! Room after room after room after room of stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff!!! An hour of touring and looking at collections would’ve been fine, two hours more than enough. By the end I’d given up walking fast and was running, trying desperately to find a shortcut OUT and AWAY from all that STUFF! Aaaaack!!!
I went to the HotR for the first time back in March. My mind was mush at the end of the tour from the complete overload that the place entails. I loved the experience but I can’t imagine going there to concentrate on anything. Then again, maybe he can pull some strings and get a ride on the carousel.
I’m with fessie on this one. It’s been years ago when the kids were high school and junior high age. They hated it too. It was hot and smelled dusty. It was like going to a cut rate combination reptile gardens and out of order miniature golf joint. Just awful. Poor Senator Kerry runs some risk of coming out of it seriously disoriented.
Not to throw water on the parade, but a casual glance at the HOTR site shows that the the “House on the Rock Resort” is a nearby hotel + golf course that bears little resemblance or attachment to the whacko house of the OP. It’s a big unexceptional resort, quite suitable for candidate prep whatever your party.
I visited HOTR when I was in high school – damned wierd place. But the nearby resort is not that place.
Well, you know that old saying, “What doesn’t kill me, only makes me stronger.” And if you’re going to be debating a President many consider to be a nutjob, then doesn’t it make sense to prep yourself at a place that strikes many as “Nutjob Central”?
