Exhausted from our school’s habitat Dig Day, we nevertheless got up the next morning to begin another busy day. Birthday brunch at the in-laws, followed by taking our dogs to hunt for doggy-treat-filled Easter eggs at the Austin Begg Hunt, followed by a visit to the Zilker Garden Festival, followed by a tour of an Austin landmark, followed by seeing a movie. Did we do anything after that? If we did, I seriously blocked it out. I’m not even sure I ate dinner that night.
While I have pictures from throughout the day, what I really want to show you is the Austin landmark we visited. Known as the Cathedral of Junk, this pile of objects from former days of glory forms a 3-story arrangement of rooms and look-out points. The South Austin residence and artistic structure is owned by Vince Hanneman, who began building a creation of junk in 1988, and visitors have helped it grow substantially ever since.
Upon arrival, visitors get a taste of the weird from the very front of the residence. There are interesting objects in the front yard, including a collection of cycling trophies above the front door, but the real fun begins when one enters the backyard. I was amused by the Praying Mantis (I think that’s what it is) eating the Wildlife Habitat sign.
The chickens in their coop kept a close eye on our dogs. I wonder if at night they are released as guard birds.
Earlier in the day, I greatly admired an arbor covered in thousands of gorgeous yellow flowers at the Zilker Botanical Garden. I couldn’t believe it when I saw an arbor covered in the same yellow flowers right there at the Cathedral of Junk of all places. I wonder if this is the same flower that Rock Rose has, Lady Banks.
Beside the flowers, a surfboard stands adorned with the signatures of countless visitors to the Cathedral of Junk. Had I had any sort of pen, I’d have signed it, too.
And from there one begins to explore the cathedral itself. It’s quite an impressive contraption, wired and welded and cemented strategically. To some it might look potentially dangerous, but I felt quite confident that its builders had built the structure quite soundly.
There are a variety of rooms and passageways, with hanging discs and other objects to bring colorful light inside.
A few ladders and steps allow visitors to reach various vantage points and different levels.
I think one could visit the Cathedral of Junk 100 times and always see something different, and it’s one of the qualities I find particularly appealing.
Objects range from the odd…
(I really don’t want to know what the squirrel in this next image is doing…)
to the strangely endearing…
to the downright creepy.
My husband pointed out that this receiver was once a really nice one back in the day.
My son enjoyed being the King of Junk for a moment.
We climbed a ladder to a second-story room…
and found a bedroom of sorts.
From the back of the cathedral, one really gets an idea of the true scale of the structure.
There’s also an altar of sorts in the back created as a memorial to those only there in spirit. Nearby is about the only good use for ligustrum I’ve seen… as a table.
One of the things I liked was that my son got to see some objects I remembered from my youth. He got to type on an old typewriter (ok, the typewriter was actually way older than me), and he even got to ride a little horse (I warned him I’d take a picture for the blog if he dared to get on it!).
On the way out, this giant bird looming over us through bamboo seemed to be watching us a little too closely.
As we exited, we left a small donation for the owner. It absolutely is an awesome place to visit.
While I was incredibly impressed by careful and artistic arrangement of objects at the Cathedral of Junk, apparently one visitor from awhile back did not think so, for a complaint to the city officials has led to some urgent adjustments to get the Cathedral up to code to avoid dismantling. It’s this reason we visited this particular weekend — knowing the possibility that the Cathedral might be shut down for good, we knew we wanted to see it right away.
But Cathedral of Junk fans are working every day to make the necessary changes to get the Cathedral up to code, and other groups are showing their support in a variety of ways. They know that there’s substantial value (not necessarily of the monetary kind) to this pile of junk, and if ever there is a place that Keeps Austin Weird, this is it.
That’s quite an impressive undertaking — certainly unique!
Interesting, to say the least. I can almost imagine what it would look like through a child’s eyes. “a place of wonder”