We came across a place called Hole N’ the Rock. I know, extraordinary apostrophe placement. And, painted on the rock, it's a double one for good measure.
It’s a 14 room house that was blasted out of the rock by a guy called Albert Christensen in the 1940s and you can go on a tour. Sounds like he was a bit of a character, an alcoholic Mormon, Jack of all trades / master of none, imprisoned twice for bootlegging. Seems like nothing he did, he did well or quite finished. Examples of his taxidermy and art works confirmed this. But he was a hard worker. He and his second wife, Gladys - also a second-time-rounder and Mormon, ran a diner from one of the rooms. He was the cook as well as a barber. He was building the house for 12 years and died at 53 with it unfinished… Gladys lived another 17 years, moving from the marital bed to a different room. She gave tours of the house for 50 cents and when she was too old and infirm, friends gave the tours while she sat up in bed and waved. They are both buried there – Gladys made the headstones.
Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take photos but I found some on line here. Look out for the fireplace tiled by Gladys and the very girly bedroom she took herself off to after Albert died. Wish she'd been there waving from the bed when we visited.
It’s a 14 room house that was blasted out of the rock by a guy called Albert Christensen in the 1940s and you can go on a tour. Sounds like he was a bit of a character, an alcoholic Mormon, Jack of all trades / master of none, imprisoned twice for bootlegging. Seems like nothing he did, he did well or quite finished. Examples of his taxidermy and art works confirmed this. But he was a hard worker. He and his second wife, Gladys - also a second-time-rounder and Mormon, ran a diner from one of the rooms. He was the cook as well as a barber. He was building the house for 12 years and died at 53 with it unfinished… Gladys lived another 17 years, moving from the marital bed to a different room. She gave tours of the house for 50 cents and when she was too old and infirm, friends gave the tours while she sat up in bed and waved. They are both buried there – Gladys made the headstones.
Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take photos but I found some on line here. Look out for the fireplace tiled by Gladys and the very girly bedroom she took herself off to after Albert died. Wish she'd been there waving from the bed when we visited.
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