SPRING GREEN, WISCONSIN, USA - Picture this: Off in the distance you see an architectural marvel perched atop a rock. As you travel closer, you discover a 14-room house that is an extraordinary complex of rooms, streets, buildings, and gardens covering over 200 acres. A 375-foot ramp through tree tops takes visitors to the entrance where a bell gallery, waterfalls, massive fireplaces and walls of rock are seen.

My recent travels included a side trip to one of Wisconsin's most remarkable and memorable attractions. AAA World Magazine writes: "The lower Wisconsin River Valley nestles many treasures, natural and man-made. None, however, better deserves the description 'spectacular' than the House on the Rock."

It's a magical place where priceless treasures from the past meld with contemporary icons and whimsical technical wizardry.

Incredible Attractions

Located on Highway 23 between Spring Green and Dodgeville, Wisconsin, the House on the Rock is an architectural marvel perched on a 60-foot chimney of rock. Built in the early 1940s, the house and surrounding exhibit buildings are famous for a variety of reasons including: striking architecture features; an incredible collection of armor; animated jeweler's art pieces; rooms full of musical instruments that play; doll and doll house collections; replicas of the Tower of London's crown jewels; a larger than life four-story sea monster; life-sized, fully animated circus orchestra; streets of yesterday; and the world's largest carousel with its more than 20,000 lights and 269 real and mythical creatures.

Space permits only a short list of the dazzling superlatives and sights to be seen. Here are a few of my favorites:

Infinity Room, with its walls of glass, cantilevers 218 feet over the picturesque valley. A glass cocktail table provides visitors with a breathtaking view of the forest floor 156 feet below.

Mill House displays antique guns, dolls, mechanical banks, suits of armor, music machines, and an enormous fireplace.

Heritage of the Sea Building features a 200-foot sea creature engaged in a titanic struggle involving an enormous octopus and a whaling expedition.

Music of Yesterday contains the greatest collection in the world of animated, automated music machines and gigantic pipe organs. It includes the Blue Room, the world's only mechanically operated symphony orchestra and the marvelous Mikado music machine where figures move with amazing realism.

Doll House Building is where more than 250 one-of-a-kind doll houses display an outstanding example of meticulous and precision craftsmanship. Even the furnishings are perfect in every detail.

Crown Jewel Collection features replicas of the crown jewels plus the royal tiara collection, various crowns of nobility, famous jewels of the world, and swords of state.

Streets of Yesterday recreates a 19th-century main street with its shops and homes. Included are the sheriff's office, carriage house, woodcarver's shop, and Grandma's house. The bricked road and gas street lamps add to the exhibit's ambiance and charm.

The Circus Building displays a collection of over one million pieces including miniature circuses and circus bands in concert. Included in the collection are dioramas, a 40 piece animated band, and a collection of animated Baranger Motions that accented store windows of jewelry stores during the 1920s, '30s, '40s, and '50s.

It's impossible to enjoy all the House on the Rock has to offer in one visit. The buildings and the collections began with the dreams of one man: Alex Jordan. His presence and influence are still very much in evidence throughout what's truly one of the world's most eclectic and awesome whiz-bang attractions.

Travel Tips

For rates, dates, and times contact House on the Rock, 5754 Highway 23, Spring Green, WI 53588, 608-935-3639. Visit their website at www.thehouseontherock.com.

For Wisconsin travel information visit the Wisconisn Tourism website at www.tourism.state.wi.us. To obtain information regarding the state's full spectrum of outdoor recreation, camping, cheese factory tours and more, request a complimentary copy of the Wisconsin Recreation Guide.