It was only a normal family home when it became a house at the 440 North Shore Drive Fountain City, Wisconsin in 1995.
By the end of summer, a freak geological mishap had turned it into a tourist attraction called Rock in the House – and it’s still attracting curious travellers today.
Visitors come from around the USA to view the boulder two storeys high that fell on the house’s back. The boulder hasn’t been moved.
The Wisconsin House attracts people from around the world to visit. They are eager to discover the 2-storey high boulder that is located at the rear.
The 55-ton boulder originally belonged to a 500ft high bluff, but was dislodged in 1995.
It sped down the hillside to smash into the wall behind the house and came to an abrupt halt halfway in the main bedroom.
An eyewitness told local newspapers that he heard a ‘train-like roar’ before the boulder hit the house.
The boulder, weighing 55 tons, was once part of an original bluff located 500ft above the home. It was dislodged in 1995.
An eyewitness told local newspapers that he heard a ‘train-like roar’ before the boulder hit the house. Husband and wife owners Maxine and Dwight Anderson were inside the house at the time – Maxine was in the bedroom itself – but both were able to escape the carnage unscathed
Husband and wife owners Maxine and Dwight Anderson were inside the house at the time – Maxine was in the bedroom itself – but both were able to escape the carnage unscathed.
However, the experience shook the couple so badly that they moved out of the house – which they’d only just finished renovating – immediately, and put it up for sale a month later.
John Burt (a local couple) purchased the property with the boulder in its place.
They put the Andersons’ home up for sale and the new owners decided to make it a tourist attraction, Rock in the House.
They decided instead of excavating the massive rock they had found, to make it a tourist destination.
Visitors were initially allowed into the home in exchange for a contribution in a jar. They could then read handwritten notes by current owners, which described the events that took place on the date of the accident.
However, it was evacuated during pandemics and is now closed due to vandalism.
This is an information station that was installed by the owners to inform tourists about the history of the home. While visitors cannot enter the property at this time, they can see it from the exterior.
However, tourists are allowed to see the inside of the house.
One TripAdvisor reviewer recently wrote: ‘The rock is truly something to see in person.’
Another commented: ‘Stop and see this unforgettable story.’
Many thanks to Lorie Shaullfor permission to use her photographs of Rock in the House.