THE HOUSE ON THE ROCK

This house is a figment of architect Alex Jordan's wild imagination. An extravagant construction, this structure is perched at the top of a 30 m high rocky spur. He began building it in the 1940s, after he had climbed the rocky outcrop on which it is built. Little by little, he gave shape to his house piece by piece, furnishing it with furniture of oriental influence. The last completed room is called the Infinity Room: a narrow 70 m long room suspended above the valley, 50 m below. A real sword point whose interior and its three thousand two hundred and sixty-four windows can be visited.

Hanging like an eagle's nest over the Wyoming Valley, the House on the Rock also houses fourteen pieces of astonishing collections, such as the world's largest merry-go-round, with its twenty thousand lights and two hundred and sixty-nine hand-carved animals, the world's largest collection of music boxes (Music of Yesterday), objects recovered from the Titanic (The Heritage of the Sea), a 4/5th century reconstruction of a 19th century village (The Streets of Yesterday), collections of scale models of cars, boats, planes... It is best to plan your visit and book in advance. There is no guided tour and you have to invent your own path. The House on the Rock is a magical place for some, kitsch for others. In any case, it is a unique place, which is worth the detour.