The House of Eternal Return

If you’re looking for a unique experience, I’ve got the place for you – Meow Wolf’s House of Eternal Return in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Their website describes the exhibit best:

“Meow Wolf’s House of Eternal Return is a unique art experience featuring a wild new form of non-linear storytelling which unfolds through exploration, discovery and 21st century interactivity.  The premise: Something has happened inside a mysterious Victorian house that has dissolved the nature of time and space. Venture through the house of The Selig Family and discover secret passageways into fantastic dimensions!”

You know you’ve reached your destination when you see the large artwork in the parking lot.

Giant spider

Giant wolf sans giant meow

Giant robot

Entering the building is no less impressive. Before going into the exhibit, we had to make a pit stop. On the way, we were struck by the paintings on the walls, the carpet, and the black light. Little did we know that we had already been given clues to our upcoming adventure.

The wall was staring at us on the way to the restroom

My shoes looked fabulous under the blacklight

The main exhibit is a house built inside a bowling alley. When entering, the first thing you see is the front porch.

The House of Eternal Return

Once you get inside, it appears to be a normal looking two story home but there’s much more than meets the eye. Tasked with finding out what happened to the family who lived there, we were fortunate to be escorted by a veteran who knew what to do and where to go. Clues to the mystery are located throughout the house – on videos, in newspapers, personal documents, pictures and actors.

The giant hamster plays a huge role in the story

Actors help solve the mystery

Exploring the house, it quickly becomes apparent that all is not what it seems.

There are secret passageways to other dimensions through the fireplace, refrigerator and closets. The worlds beyond are very different from our own.

“Inside” the fish tank

A town housed inside the far reaches of the mansion

A room where music is played by waving your hands through the lights

A wall designed to make even the most steady person dizzy

A sky found only in an alternate dimension

It took us several hours to go through the exhibit and our guide was ecstatic to find new clues he had missed during his first visit. When we finally left Meow Wolf, we weren’t sure what happened even though we had a good time. I developed my own theory of why it’s called The House of Eternal Return – each visit results in something new bringing return visitors back again and again. Definitely worth a look.

May the farce be with you!

Your IFF,

Pam

The nondescript exterior betrays what’s inside