One of Wisconsin's premiere tourist attractions, House on the Rocks is a random and unique adventure outside of Dodgeville. I've been here several times during my lifetime and each time I come back with more haunting images than before! What scares me? I'll show you. My photography challenge during our visit was tricky. I was filming mostly in the dark which has its own challenges. But the biggest challenge? Looking at something that made me sad or angry and forcing myself to examine why it scared me or why I felt sad. Most of us do this as we walk away from images that disturb. These shots today are some of the most interesting reflection pieces I've taken for this blog. I'll keep the writing down a bit so that you can look at the gallery of pics. There is haunting music played in all 3 parts of this museum of authentic and replicated pieces. But it doesn't matter what's real or not....it's how its all put together that delights crowds from around the world. Join me on this very twisted tour....
There is something wrong about capturing butterflies or birds and putting them on a display like this. When I see these pics, I think Silence of the Lambs with all the moths. But mostly, butterflies are meant to fly and this image/display terrifies me.
Created by Alex Jordan, his vision and dream began back in the '40's. Here is a little personal info. The first time I came to visit this place was with my Grandparents. I remember having nightmares for years about this museum. But as a kid, it was a cool experience. Around 1998, I went back again to visit and reclaim those random images as an adult. My Grandfather had helped this man with his place at some point very early on with the construction. As a kid, I remember several things. Being happy with my Grandparents here, having vanilla ice cream by a giant whale, and meeting this man. My Grandfather had wanted to meet him again after all the years had passed but Mr. Jordan didn't remember Grandpa at all and that made Grandma very upset. I remember the car ride home and Grandma sharing her disappointment. The cool part? I met the creator before he died. The sad part. The realization that people are used and forgotten. The very sad part? All 3 of them are no longer here anymore
Creepy!
Dark streets of our past....
Masks....
The Infinity Room
Clowns scare the crap out of me.....
.....as do dolls! Did you know that they used real hair back then to make dolls? Even creepier.
On your death bed.
Here I'm having some fun artistically with the camera. Still creepy.
My favorite part to this entire exhibit? The Carousel!!!! It's huge and magical and a must see.
The exhibit is broken up into 3 parts and is quite fascinating. There is a lot of walking so bring great shoes. Tickets were around 30 dollars for all 3 parts. It will take you a good portion of your day so if you have other things planned, get there early:) The gardens around the place do not resemble the home at all. I'm not sure if I'll ever go back here again but we had a fun visit and it was more about vacation. We had a lot of good laughs and scares. Hope you enjoyed the tour. More tomorrow....
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Same comment about the butterflies... How perception can change over time too...
ReplyDeleteMy husband bought butterfly souvenirs years ago, and we began to HATE them, so they were passed on to his sister. Now our butterflies either fly free, or get eaten by birds.
DeleteExactly. There is something very morbid about putting a butterfly on display like this. They also had a window full of stuffed birds. Let's just say I lost my appetite.
DeleteBrilliant photos Chris but the place looks exceedingly creepy and would freak me out especially as I don't like clowns or masks! I love the last photo of the Carousel and the sense of movement. The photos and place remind me of something out of one of Ray Bradbury's books such as "Dandelion Wine".
ReplyDeleteYes!!!! I totally agree. That's what I thought when I took a picture of the desk with lamps. It felt like Ray Bradbury would sit there:) Great minds think alike:) As for clowns.....ugh! I still remember this and I was sooo young!!! I was in my crib as a child. On both our doors were two HUGE clowns. When Mom and Dad put me down for a nap, they came alive and as I moved....so did their eyes!!! I cried and cried and cried. Eventually they were taken off the doors. However one day I went into one of the dark closets and found those pics again!!!! I wanted to burn them so bad but a family member made them. In short, clowns freak me out!
DeleteIt is like the haunted houses in the amusement parks. A little creepy in parts. The carousel shot looks cool. Great shots, have a wonderful day.
ReplyDeleteThe carousel is incredible. I sat for almost 45 minutes watching it go round and round.....pretty incredible.
DeleteWho was this guy?
ReplyDeleteI don't remember this place from childhood visits to Wisconsin. Now that I see it, that's a good thing.
A very eccentric man who was quite the quiet person. He didn't get along with a lot of people....one autobiography(not authorized) paints him as a dark and twisted man. And the other...the authorized shows a more favorable view:)
DeleteFantastic carousel shot!
ReplyDeleteThat clown would creep anyone out.
The carousel is a highlight!
Deleteoh my.....I loved the carosel....it was ashock to the system when you walk into the room and it is like stepping into an altered reality...cool experience....but I was 30
ReplyDeletenot little....Did you like the clock that you walk through?
I grew up with Riverview...this has a taste of its funhouse
and freak show....yes they had freak shows.....
I wonder if Bradbury ever visited the house on the rock?
ANd don't you just wonder why the guy ever did this?
compulsion...like Ms Winchester...fear?
of something unknown to us?
But it is worth seeing Chris
clowns scare me too...but gacy did that and Stevie King
and Poltergeist
Sorry your grandpa had hurt feelings....but someone who meets so many people like this man did...couldn't possibly remember everyone.....worship no one....my motto
We did...that was fun. That room is so interesting! I thought about that the entire time I was there.....like "what motivated him to do this?" Some of it is so random and strange.
DeleteI don't know why I remember that particular memory. The bonus of blogging is that I now can journal things that have gone through my head. I didn't know that particular memory would surface but it was a cool little piece to appear out of nowhere. I think I saw the whale and it triggered the conversation my grandparents had while we were eating the ice cream cone. That's how my mind works...very visual in all of my work. My classroom reflects a lot of this. I think I felt bad for my Grandma in a strange way. Like why wouldn't you remember my Grandpa? He's a cool guy. But he was my Grandpa:) And Grandma was formal and proper. It didn't matter how many people worked for you, you should still remember my husband. But it's true...a lot of hours went into creating this museum/home. And I agree, people should check it out.....just for the their own opinion:)
Hi Chris, I'm not much on 'creepy' places ---and my brain doesn't want to dig too deep for meanings these days... I would love the gardens though!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat set of photos... Love the carousel one..
Betsy
One of my issues Betsy is that I do too much thinking and internalize much of my work and actions. It's something I fight with on a daily basis. I'm getting there, but I have to figure out how it all connects together. My biggest interrogative word that challenges me is "why" like "Why did she do that?" "Why would you try to hit birds with your golf balls?" or today's big question...."Why would someone rip our birdfeeder out of the ground and dump all the birdseed on the ground?" It wasn't a great start to my day:(
DeleteInteresting childhood memories, I agreee that having butterflies pinned to a display is disturbing. Love the carousel shot, great action there.
ReplyDeleteI agree...it's disturbing. I work with our butterfly pavilion here at the gardens and one of the things I don't like is that some people around the world harvest butterflies so that they can put them in disks. I hope we never do that in Tucson. We sell live butterfly kits for kids and adults. That's a bit different though:) They get freed into the wild after everyone watches it emerge from the cocoon:)
Deletei don't like creepy clowns or dolls, either. :)
ReplyDeleteDolls=Chuckie
DeleteClowns=It
I completely agree with you, yuck on the butterflies, moths, clowns and dolls (especially with real hair :(
ReplyDeleteDid you know that ghost hunters report sightings around dolls with human hair? They took their kids hair and used it in the dolls and then they would be played with by those same kids. This is from a ghost hunter. "For some reason, dolls seems to attract more spirits and paranormal haunted activities then other inanimate objects. At least that's what my findings have begun to reveal. Haunted dolls can also be referred too as cursed. This supernatural phenomenon is one of the strangest most puzzling enigmas of all the haunting styles." True or not? I don't know...but the creepy factor is super high...especially after finding out human hair was used in many of the dolls seen at the museum!
DeleteI am appropriately creeped out by this post! Thanks for sharing. I think. :-)
ReplyDeleteYour welcome. My trauma is your trauma:) Evil laugh;)
DeleteMacabre comes to mind indeed, but a little fun to be "safely" scared. That clown would scare Ronald McDonald! How come dolls are always so creepy? They're supposed to teach young people to become nurturing adults...not sure what happened in translation with that concept.
ReplyDeleteMe neither! Weird! They also do a Christmas themed museum in November/December. I'm not sure I'd want to go to that. Would you? That is a sacred holiday full of yummy food and happy memories....I don't think I'd want to spoil the feeling with fear and creepiness:)
DeleteI think you've got to wonder about a person who creates this sort of museum. Very weird. I'm so sorry your grandmother was hurt by the owner not remembering your grandfather. But a lot of us go through life being rather invisible as long as we do our job well and don't cause any trouble. :))
ReplyDeleteIsn't that right? Nice observation! But the minute you screw up, you're fired:) Well, the minute you speak your mind, they find a way to make you disappear. The world is changing in so many ways. Gone are the days of discussion in the working world:) Everyone is becoming a robot and slave to their electronic devices!
DeleteHi Kreesh, i read all the comments and we share most feelings. First, i hate butterflies pinned and displayed. I also bought a framed one long ago exported here from China, and is still displayed in my house. But i don't want anybody do it continuously even if they breed them themselves.
ReplyDeleteAnd i don't like those eerie displays as well. I don't like also dolls like those because i feel like they will come to life when i'm sleeping. I hate these type of fun houses. I'm reading some paranormal things and have experienced a few things related to it, so i don't go on things which might have the negative energy imprint from the former dwellers. By the way, i experienced something unusual from my last trip while shooting a tree bark!
That's not fair....now you have me curious about the experience and tree bark! That sounds like a post title all by itself:)
DeleteI've never had anything paranormal happen to me. It's mostly a normal experience day to day. It would be nice to encounter something bizarre that I can't figure out:) You better have written about the tree bark incident:) Adios amiga!
hahaha, hola mi amigo, hasta la vista! That is all i can say. Oh but i still know something. No tengo dinero y tengo hambre. My Spanish companions laughed at me when i said that, they said "you will survive"!
DeleteI have been there several times and parts of it are pretty creepy. I do like the music stuff and the ivory carvings. I took a couple of friends from Georgia there a few years ago and they never came back to visit me!!Honk!!!
ReplyDeleteNow....I don't know what to say about the ivory part. I had forgotten about the ivory display until you mentioned it. You're right. It's beautiful but I got so angry that I left that room. I couldn't take pictures. It's the elephant story and tragedy going on in parts of the world that bothers me. I'm a little weird when it comes to that stuff. I've a good portion of my life watching these incredible places/animals disappear and I get scared that they won't be around for future generations. I know I know...Downer Debbie over here:) I wonder what they really thought your friends from Georgia:) LOL!!! We left the place exhausted mentally. The nice about the gardens outside is that you can just mentally unload and brief the fresh air. That is quite a walk:)
DeleteYour pictures are fascinating! The clowns and dolls are scary but I would like to see the carousel in person.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post, I so enjoyed reading all the comments (sometimes it's good to come in late and enjoy all the fun)You did such a great job of showing it to 'creepy' perfection, it always amazes me how many people are scared of clowns, Stephen King has a lot to answer for haha!
ReplyDeleteOh, how fun. We stopped there once on our way by because my hubby's grandmother told us of the 48 states, she never got to Wisconsin. She wanted to see the house on the rock. We did not go in. Just took photos of the outside and the beautiful huge planters filled with flowers. It certainly sounds interesting.
ReplyDeletevery cool pictures...but creepy too.
ReplyDeleteespecially THAT CLOWN...yikes! like right out of a stephen king novel! clowns...dolls...scary. probably have just seen too many horror movies...although i do love them!
if i ever get to wisconsin...i would definitely take a QUICK tour! ha!