Sixteen miles south of Moab Utah, near Kane Springs, on route 191 you will happen along a little (if you call a 5,000 square foot home little) place built into the massive red rock called Hole N' The Rock. The mailing address is Monticello, but that is a tad bit misleading as town is another 38 to 40 miles south of Hole N' The Rock.
Albert and Gladys Christensen lived and died here, building their home IN the rock. It is unusual to say the least. OK, some will call it a tourist trap, it has a gift shop, they charge you a nominal amount to actually "tour" the home, there is a zoo (pay to see that as well) and there is Americana folk art all over the place. The brochures call it historic, a most unique home. And, yes, indeedy, they have a web page. And, yes, Man and I stopped for a short visit, and yes, we paid to take the tour of the home. We skipped the zoo. There are several other buildings/shops on the premises which we wandered in and out of, keeping wallets safely tucked away from the view of the proprietors! LOL
Below, some of the Americana folk art, I neglected to get the name or artist:
Below: "Organized Chaos" by Lyle Nichols:
Below: "A Lot of Bull", by Lyle Nichols:
And, a close up of the materials used to craft this big guy. I see wrenches, tin snips, cogs, rasps, bolts, even the head of an axe. (Wouldn't this photo make a great puzzle?)
Below: I have NO idea, but, it is fun, isn't it?? LOL
No photos are allowed during the house tour. Lets face it, they want to sell their own photos, in a small collection of post card sized photos, printed on one large sheet. No where on that sheet does it say there is a copyright, I looked and looked. So, since I could not find one, I took a photo of three of the 16 panels on their "yep, we sold one to Reflections" brochure so I could share with you.
But, first a little about the "house". It is 5,000 square feet, 14 rooms built around huge pillars, the fireplace is connected to a 65 foot chimney that is drilled through the solid red sandstone, there is a deep bathtub built in and the kitchen once was used in part to feed visitors, so the walls were painted. It took Albert 12 years to excavate 50,000 cubic feet of stone and even then he was not finished with the home he was building for his bride, Gladys.
May be the most unusual home Man and I have ever toured. Below, one of the bedrooms.
The bathroom and tub. Remember that wall hanging over the bathtub is solid sandstone.
Below: This is the entry area to the home, on the far left is the fireplace. There are small shelves/alcove type areas cut into the columns, where Gladys placed knickknacks.
Hole N' The Rock, different, a bit bizarre, but somehow, it seems to fit in with the mystique and uniqueness of Southern Utah. You really should stop if you are in the neighborhood.
* Remember, those last 3 photos did not come from Sony, all credit to Hole N' The Rock.
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2 comments:
Very interesting indeed. Living quarters aren't bad, although I wonder why they needed all that space.
I just reviewed several of your posts. As usual, the photography is beautiful. One of these days . . . I loved the natural sandstone above the tub. What a unique experience.
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