House on the Rock is an interesting place. I love to go there but it is very hard to explain to someone who has never been. This is a picture I found but did not take and I got this piece of history off of their website.
“During the 1940's, a man named Alex Jordan discovered a 60-foot chimney of rock in the beautiful Wyoming Valley. It was here he decided to build a house on the sandstone formation called Deer Shelter Rock. Jordan built the house as a weekend retreat and never intended it to be a tourist attraction. However, people kept coming to see the architectural wonder they had heard about. Jordan eventually started asking for 50 cent donations. That was only the beginning. The 14-room house is the original structure of what is now a complex of many buildings, exhibits and garden displays. Alex was a collector all his life and enjoyed visiting museums; however, he did not want The House on the Rock to be a museum. He intended it to be much more than that. Though parts of the collections could have easily found their way into museums, The House on the Rock is more of a trip through the wild and fantastic imagination of Alex Jordan than a visit to a dusty, lifeless museum” Well it is definitely different. Here are some highlights from our trip through – sorry I don’t have pictures of the miniature dollhouses – I ran out of battery. If you are interested in seeing more (and better) pictures of the attraction, click on this link:
http://www.thehouseontherock.com/HOTR_Attraction_PhotoGalleryShow.htm One of the most spectacular parts of the place is the “Infinity Room”. This is an engineering wonder and is suspended out over the top of the trees. You can feel the room sway. Not something I really enjoy. The girls seem to though, Lera looked down through the window in the floor. This is where the girls stood.
And this is where Mama stood.
Enough said. I was very happy to go back to these beautiful gardens. The girls were more impressed with the koi.
This was inside the house. Michael liked all of the winding rooms and places to sit. In a couple of years he will be hitting his head and may not be so enthused. Caelia really liked this table – there be a lot of dragons here.
Lera made herself completely at home (and this is not discouraged here!!!!Yay!)
Apart from the house is the Collections. There are dollhouses and a street that looks like it came from an old town. There is also one massive room with ships and a huge whale.
I don’t know that Lera liked the whale but she liked the octopus band. Caelia was intrigued by the trees with doors in them. She stopped and knocked on every one she found.
You really have to be on your toes with Caelia because she loves to explore. Chris is a really big help when it comes to watching Caelia.
Sometimes you just have to take a rest. The middle of a path is just fine with Lera. If she is tired and she has decided to park herself somewhere, well then you can just move around her. Besides, she knows someone will pick her up soon enough.
The Carousel is the world’s largest indoor carousel. It is beautiful and flashy and there is lots of music but you are not allowed to ride. Lera was miffed by this.
By the way of all of the animals on the Carousel, there is not one horse. There is also this really creepy doorway but none of my kids were at all bothered by it, they are Halloween pros.
You do a lot of walking and there are staircases that twist and turn and ramps that go every where.
The mechanical room (just because I don’t know what else to call it) is quite the tangle. Loved all of the organs and adored the massive clocks with their clockworks showing. One of the things about any outing in our family is that as interesting as you find your surroundings, never, ever take you eyes off the girls. Caelia it is just best to keep hold of and Lera…well, Lera will walk with you but as soon as you glance away, she is trying to climb.
And climb some more.
Are you beginning to see how she earned the nickname “monkey butt” from her brother? This last video is of Miss Monkey climbing the gate that separates you from the music. Its not great quality but it gives you an idea on all of the sensory input that you receive on a tour.
House on the Rock is an interesting place. I love to go there but it is very hard to explain to someone who has never been. This is a picture I found but did not take and I got this piece of history off of their website. “During the 1940's, a man named Alex Jordan discovered a 60-foot chimney of rock in the beautiful Wyoming Valley. It was here he decided to build a house on the sandstone formation called Deer Shelter Rock. Jordan built the house as a weekend retreat and never intended it to be a tourist attraction. However, people kept coming to see the architectural wonder they had heard about. Jordan eventually started asking for 50 cent donations. That was only the beginning. The 14-room house is the original structure of what is now a complex of many buildings, exhibits and garden displays. Alex was a collector all his life and enjoyed visiting museums; however, he did not want The House on the Rock to be a museum. He intended it to be much more than that. Though parts of the collections could have easily found their way into museums, The House on the Rock is more of a trip through the wild and fantastic imagination of Alex Jordan than a visit to a dusty, lifeless museum” Well it is definitely different. Here are some highlights from our trip through – sorry I don’t have pictures of the miniature dollhouses – I ran out of battery. If you are interested in seeing more (and better) pictures of the attraction, click on this link: http://www.thehouseontherock.com/HOTR_Attraction_PhotoGalleryShow.htm One of the most spectacular parts of the place is the “Infinity Room”. This is an engineering wonder and is suspended out over the top of the trees. You can feel the room sway. Not something I really enjoy. The girls seem to though, Lera looked down through the window in the floor. This is where the girls stood.
And this is where Mama stood.
Enough said. I was very happy to go back to these beautiful gardens. The girls were more impressed with the koi.
This was inside the house. Michael liked all of the winding rooms and places to sit. In a couple of years he will be hitting his head and may not be so enthused. Caelia really liked this table – there be a lot of dragons here.
Lera made herself completely at home (and this is not discouraged here!!!!Yay!)
Apart from the house is the Collections. There are dollhouses and a street that looks like it came from an old town. There is also one massive room with ships and a huge whale. 
I don’t know that Lera liked the whale but she liked the octopus band. Caelia was intrigued by the trees with doors in them. She stopped and knocked on every one she found.
You really have to be on your toes with Caelia because she loves to explore. Chris is a really big help when it comes to watching Caelia.
Sometimes you just have to take a rest. The middle of a path is just fine with Lera. If she is tired and she has decided to park herself somewhere, well then you can just move around her. Besides, she knows someone will pick her up soon enough.
The Carousel is the world’s largest indoor carousel. It is beautiful and flashy and there is lots of music but you are not allowed to ride. Lera was miffed by this. 
By the way of all of the animals on the Carousel, there is not one horse. There is also this really creepy doorway but none of my kids were at all bothered by it, they are Halloween pros.
You do a lot of walking and there are staircases that twist and turn and ramps that go every where. 
The mechanical room (just because I don’t know what else to call it) is quite the tangle. Loved all of the organs and adored the massive clocks with their clockworks showing. One of the things about any outing in our family is that as interesting as you find your surroundings, never, ever take you eyes off the girls. Caelia it is just best to keep hold of and Lera…well, Lera will walk with you but as soon as you glance away, she is trying to climb.
And climb some more.
Are you beginning to see how she earned the nickname “monkey butt” from her brother? This last video is of Miss Monkey climbing the gate that separates you from the music. Its not great quality but it gives you an idea on all of the sensory input that you receive on a tour.
2 comments:
Wow, that's a really cool place!
Hey, Sheila!
I guess I am not sure how else to contact you.
I will be attending the Step Up For Sown Syndrome walk in St Paul this weekend. If you get this before that, please find us. We are Molly's Marvelous Mob and we will have a tent set up so please come and introduce yourself. I would love to meet the girls.
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