HURTH Waterscapes Makes a Splash at The House on the Rock!
HURTH Waterscapes was awarded the contract to construct three exciting and artistically creative water features at The House on the Rock attraction in Spring Green Wisconsin in 2007.
Overview
The House on the Rock was originally designed and built by Alex Jordan in the 40’s. In 2007, it was in the midst of its first renovation in over 50 years. The renovations included three water features, all of which HURTH Waterscapes constructed. One of the ponds was a rebuild of an existing pond and the other two were all new creations. We were thrilled to be a part of the renovation of such an important world-class destination place right here in Wisconsin.
Creative
I worked closely with Tom Kupsh, the creative consultant for The House on the Rock, who has worked with Alex Jordan in the 70’s and is credited with creating the renovation concept plan and architectural models for the project. Tom is a very creative and driven guy, he sees the big picture in his mind and he is driven to bring it to fruition. It was a real treat to work with someone who is so wonderfully artistic and creative. This project turned out to be absolutely fabulous. The House on the Rock wasn’t interested in building your average backyard ponds, they wanted to create world-class destination places. The creativity and attention to detail required by this project was perfect for HURTH Waterscapes. Creativity and quality are what we are all about!
Japanese Waterfall
The first project that we were involved in at The House on the Rock was the construction of the waterfall for the Japanese garden pond which was roughed-in in July of 2007. This grand split falls fed by a large up flow wetland filter is fifteen feet tall and over fifty feet wide. Huge boulders were placed to form the many cascades and dramatic drops. The view of this falls from the covered walkway to the House is just spectacular.
Mill Pond
The second project was completed in August of 2007. This was the renovation of the mill pond. Those of you who have visited the attraction in the past will likely remember the mill pond. While the location of the mill pond didn’t change, it is still a small quiet oasis in the middle of multi-level walkways and structures, the look of the pond definitely changed. The pond was entirely re-done with a wetland filtration system, vanishing edge waterfall and a new mill wheel.
Japanese Garden Pond
The third project was the construction of the Japanese garden pond to accompany the newly constructed waterfall. This pond was built-in the Spring of 2008 and is an approximately 50’ x 50’ undulating water garden masterpiece complete with bridges, stepping-stones, contemplation rocks, a carp stone and even Turtle Island.
Asian Water Garden
The final project was also completed in 2008 and is an Asian water garden and waterfall which was constructed behind the new welcome center. The waterfall for this final project starts inside the new welcome center and comes crashing through the wall, down the falls and into a huge, magnificent pond. This pond is much larger than the Japanese garden pond and it has a huge pine tree island in the center, two water falls, one wetland filter and two bridges. This final pond system was an absolutely unique and fabulously challenging project to be involved in. I will never forget our weeks out at the House on the Rock and I will never forget working with Tom Kupsh, it was certainly a pleasure.
Wow
This was a very exciting project to be involved in. We got the opportunity to work with creative and artistic people to build a masterpiece that will be viewed by people from around the world. This was a very exciting time for HURTH Waterscapes as well as for The House on the Rock. Whether you have been to the attraction before or not, I think you owe it to yourself to take a drive out to Spring Green Wisconsin and see all of the new The House on the Rock attractions first hand. The views are sure to delight.
If you have any wildly creative and challenging projects in mind, just give us a call!