Utah & Arizona Part 4 - Hole in the Rock, Moab, UT
A lesser known local attraction in the city of Moab in Utah is the "Hole in the Rock", since most people visit Moab for the famous Arches National Park. While looking for local attractions in the Internet, I came across this small but wonderful place worth-mentioning. I hope that it gets more & more visitors in the future.
Utah is filled with rocks of all shapes, sizes & textures. In the small caves and crevices that form in these rocks, animals, insects & birds make their home. After caveman days & the stone age, man gradually moved out of caves to build his own home. Today everyone wants to build or live in beautiful & sophisticated homes in tune with the times. So under these circumstances its very interesting to find a couple that called a rock their home. Albert & Gladys Christensen lived inside a massive rock, a most unique & unlikely place to call home.
What is even more amazing is the fact the Christensens built, rather carved their own home out from the towering monolith. The rock being made of sandstone was easier to carve compared to granite etc... And so for 12 years - from 1945 to 1957 - Albert diligently chipped away 50,000 cubic feet of sand stone and made a hole in the rock 5000 sq ft wide in floor area. One must keep in mind that in those times electricity was scarce so he did most of the work by hand. It is a beautiful home complete with, bedrooms, kitchen, bathrooms & studio to receive guests. All in all it had 14 fabulous rooms - a mansion fit for a celebrity! It was like The Flintstones, only classier.
There was plenty of evidence of the Christensens' various talents & skills all round. They must have been a very busy couple making all kinds of rock sculptues, metal figures, wooden figures, dolls and many more curios. Every single item inside the home was either hand-made by Albert or Gladys. And all of the dolls in Gladys' bedroom were made by her very own hands. They ran a small cafe in their kitchen to earn their living. The rest of the time was spent carving and making various other art. One of the things worth mentioning is a sculpture of Franklin D Roosevelt on the face of the rock above his home.
Since there was no electricity, Gladys used candles at night inside their home, and due to the special nature of the rock, it was always a constant temperature inside(around 60 F to 68 F), so there was no need for a heater or cooler even for Utah's extreme weather conditions. When Albert passed away in 1957, the home was not complete, so Gladys continued and completed his work.
Both of them don't have children of their own but from previous marriages. When Gladys passed away in 1974, she was laid to rest near Albert in a small cove in the rock near their home. Although no one lives there now, the home & cafe along with a gift shop are privately owned and welcome visitors all year round.
It was a unique experience to visit the Hole in the Rock and most certainly an unforgettable one.
P.S - Taking pictures was not allowed, so I took pictures of the pictures I bought from the gift shop.
Utah is filled with rocks of all shapes, sizes & textures. In the small caves and crevices that form in these rocks, animals, insects & birds make their home. After caveman days & the stone age, man gradually moved out of caves to build his own home. Today everyone wants to build or live in beautiful & sophisticated homes in tune with the times. So under these circumstances its very interesting to find a couple that called a rock their home. Albert & Gladys Christensen lived inside a massive rock, a most unique & unlikely place to call home.
What is even more amazing is the fact the Christensens built, rather carved their own home out from the towering monolith. The rock being made of sandstone was easier to carve compared to granite etc... And so for 12 years - from 1945 to 1957 - Albert diligently chipped away 50,000 cubic feet of sand stone and made a hole in the rock 5000 sq ft wide in floor area. One must keep in mind that in those times electricity was scarce so he did most of the work by hand. It is a beautiful home complete with, bedrooms, kitchen, bathrooms & studio to receive guests. All in all it had 14 fabulous rooms - a mansion fit for a celebrity! It was like The Flintstones, only classier.
Since there was no electricity, Gladys used candles at night inside their home, and due to the special nature of the rock, it was always a constant temperature inside(around 60 F to 68 F), so there was no need for a heater or cooler even for Utah's extreme weather conditions. When Albert passed away in 1957, the home was not complete, so Gladys continued and completed his work.
Both of them don't have children of their own but from previous marriages. When Gladys passed away in 1974, she was laid to rest near Albert in a small cove in the rock near their home. Although no one lives there now, the home & cafe along with a gift shop are privately owned and welcome visitors all year round.
It was a unique experience to visit the Hole in the Rock and most certainly an unforgettable one.
P.S - Taking pictures was not allowed, so I took pictures of the pictures I bought from the gift shop.
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