Read This Article, Published in the Star Tribune

When I started dating my husband, he said, “Never ask me to take you to The House on the Rock.” I hadn’t heard of the attraction, which he said was more than a home built atop a rock. It included adjacent buildings filled with oddball collections that took forever to wander through.


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Over the years I learned more about this unusual attraction, then finally visited with my family. It was much as Ed had described – a reasonably interesting house built on a rock. But also a crazy and kind of creepy collection of varied objects (think knives, china dolls, carousels and more). These collections were set out in a series of buildings with no periodic exits. Once you were in, you had to continue through the entire place.

Years Pass, House on the Rock Changes

Apparently plenty of people complained about the lack of an escape, for eventually The House on the Rock let you bail at several points if the experience became too much, whether that was the overwhelmingness of the collections or exhaustion from walking so far.

An interesting museum was also added, which explained how Alex Jordan, the creator, accomplished this feat. I returned in 2022 with my younger daughter, her fiancé and her future father-in-law. Andy, her fiancé, had learned about the place and was quite intrigued. 

Both Andy and his father loved exploring the place, which was less overwhelming because a large portion was closed, due to it being the holiday season. I enjoyed learning more about Alex Jordan via interviews with the owners. Now it’s time for YOU to learn about this crazy place!

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