Houses on the Rock and Hill

This past Sunday, Rachel and I headed down 94E towards Spring Green, WI to take 2 house tours. One house sits on a rock and the other sits on the "brow" of a hill. If you've never visited Wisconsin, I'd have to say you might be very surprised at how beautiful of a state it is. Especially if you take the "Great River Road" (Hwy 35 or 61) that follows the Mississippi - the views are breathtaking. Although I had been battling an oncoming sickness I could feel earlier that week, I managed to keep it at bay long enough to enjoy a relaxing and eye-popping tour of House on the Rock and also Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin home where he grew up and eventually passed. We couldn't have chosen a better time to take a trip as Fall colors were in full bloom. I left feeling incredibly inspired and enjoyed spending quality time with a good friend. I would highly recommend this trip if you live in the vicinity. Here are some snapshots taken from my RetroCam app on my phone:

On the road to Spring Green, WI.

We stop for breakfast at Moe's Diner in Osseo, WI.

Even our waitress there wore a Poodle Skirt (not pictured). 

I order eggs & ham.

After stopping at the resort (thinking we were booked at the Inn), we attempt to check in at the Inn only to be told our reservation is at the resort. D'oh!

Mr. Alexander's memorabilia is all over the place, like this old traffic department automobile which sits outside the Inn. 

After driving around for 5 hours, we finally reach The House on the Rock!

The entire grounds are full of these giant vases filled with flowers.

Upon entering Tour 1, we enter the original part of the house, which resembled a 70's hedonistic den. Low ceilings, carpet everywhere, low lights and built in seating.

The entrance to the "widow's peak" walk, aka The Infinity Room. 

You can't walk the full length of this widows peak that extends over the cliff, but once you reach this window - it gives you a view of the ground below you. Pretty awesome.

He owned a massive amount of musical instrument machines that played on their own once you deposited a token (like this one). They were strange and fascinating.

He also must have loved stained glass because there were tons of it throughout the tour. I thought this one was fitting as it captures "Autumn".

This was part of a replicated Pharmacy/Drug Store from the 19th Century small-town Main St. he created. It housed a theater, hotel, sheriff's station, woman's boutique, barber and many more real-life stores you might have seen back then. 

Perhaps the biggest surprise during the tour was the Voyage to the Sea room, where he built a sea creature that is the same size as the length of the Statue of Liberty! Here's a sailor from one of the exhibits.

There were a ton of cases full of dolls, puppets and just about every other weird thing you could think of.

A case full of feathered mardi-gras style masks.

He owned a collection of butterflies all encased in frames or glass showcases.

I think this was part of another automatic music machines - but this one was gigantic.

I believe this is the world's largest enclosed carousal. 

This was from an old circus, you put in a token and placed your hand on a red platform and bulbs lit up to tell if you were "a gas", "a fuddy duddy" or a multitude of other foretelling sentiments.

Another one of his HUGE automatic music machines that would turn on and play once you deposited a few tokens. This one was comprised of a man on piano (not pictured), a conductor (also not pictured) and an entire orchestra.

He owned a massive collection of Eastern art and artifacts - here's a puppet of a classic kung-fu master. 

He also had an exhibit that housed a lot of royal artifacts, including an entire wall full of real crowns and tiaras worn by some notable Kings & Queens in our world history. 

And what would a collection be without Renaissance or Medieval armor? 

More beautiful stained glass.

A water fountain on our way out of the house.

A view of my room at the Resort, which was pretty spacious for a mere $85/person. Decor was better than expected. Very retro.

A view from our back porch seating area, which is the golf course of course. 

Tis the season for the gourds. 

The following morning, Rachel and I head to the Taliesin for our 2 hour Highlights tour.

A view of the Wisconsin River (I think) from the Frank Lloyd Wright visitor center. We honestly couldn't have asked for better weather - 67º and sunny. Perfect Fall crispy weather.

A view outside the gift store framed with Mr. Wright's legendary geometric shapes he was known for. 

Rachel sitting near the cafe until our tour starts. 

The first stop at our tour - Frank Lloyd Wright's school and theater. 

Fall is by far one of the most romantic times of the year for me.

In the distance is Frank's "Romeo & Juliet" windmill that stood the test of time. As he put it, "all my critics are now horizontal, whereas this remains vertical".

There were no photos permitted inside, so I turned off my flash and managed to snap this photo of the theater. This huge curtain was a gift to Mr. Wright and encompasses so much of his style and many of the things he loved (architecture, landscape, music and his childhood home in the Wyoming valley in WI).

His design was evident in everything your eyes saw on his property - including the light fixtures.

Mr. Wright used his Taliesin home not only as a place to reside, but also as his laboratory. There were many imperfections, but that's because he would never substitute his philosophies or aesthetics for technical engineering. He was a master of engaging each and every visitor to his home through his architecture, whether it was through his lines that would draw your eyes from one point to another or through space compression to move traffic to a certain location.

Another shot of the Taliesin school.

Beautiful maple tree that greets you at his property.

The Taliesin estate was part of his Prairie Style period.

Mr. Wright also loved Asian art and owned quite the collection which was displayed throughout this home.

The garden sitting in the middle of his home was GORGEOUS.

Mr. Wright loved the color red and it was featured often in his home.

Another shot I snuck in during the tour, this was a beautiful rug he had made that was clearly designed by him.

Mr. Wright designed every single aspect of his property, the roads, the trees, the fields...just everything. I cannot tell you how inspiring this tour was - he was so full of creativity and stayed true to his ideas and style.