THE HOUSE THAT ALEX BUILT
One clay, a man named Alex Jordan was wandering around a hilly
countryside in Wisconsin, when he saw a huge rock. It was as tall as a
thirty-story skyscraper, and it was shaped like a giant chimney. He was
filled with wonder when he saw the rock because rocks and stones meant
something special to him. He was a sculptor. A sculptor carves things
out of stone.
He climbed to the top of the rock and thought, “What a perfect place for
a quiet workshop, away from the city.” So, he decided to build a
one-room shop on top. He gathered his tools and building equipment
together and started work.
When his shop was finished, he was so pleased that he added more rooms
to his shop. Then it began to look like a house. Wherever he could, he
used the rock as part of his house. Instead of chipping away the rock,
he used it as a wall, a stairstep, or as part of a fireplace. And
instead of cutting down the trees that grew on the rock, he built the
rooms around the trees, leaving holes in the roof for them to poke
through.
Today, the house is called The House on the Rock, and hundreds of
people take special trips to Wisconsin to see Mr. Jordan’s house.
