House of Eternal Return: Santa Fe’s Trippy Interdimensional Art House

Santa Fe’s House of Eternal Return is a genre-bending art installation that you simply have to experience in order to comprehend. Around 2015, a Santa Fe-based art collective called Meow Wolf decided that they wanted to build a fictitious Victorian house in a crumbling bowling alley. Meow Wolf lore states that the fantastical two-story Victorian was occupied by the made-up Selig family who vanished without a trace after experimenting with powerful forces that they didn’t entirely understand. Now a team of scientists and government officials are attempting to observe and contain the otherworldly phenomenon that continues to flourish inside the walls of the former Selig family home.

Visitors can spend an entire day wandering through the House of Eternal Return, attempting to solve the mystery of the missing Selig family. Guests can relax on a fuzzy blue chair, open drawers, and stare into the strange hypnotic light emanating from the washing machine. The walls of the house are plastered with cryptic post-it notes which may or may not be clues. The farther one journeys into the House of Eternal Return, the stranger and trippier things get. Portals to various dimensions filled with hot pink horses and gumdrop-like creatures begin to appear. A mastodon skeleton that doubles as a musical instrument never fails to captivate viewers.

The House of Eternal Return also doubles as a music venue that attracts some of the world’s most celebrated bands. For those who are eager to take a psychedelic souvenir home, the House of Eternal Return features a gift shop full of wacky and wonderful items, including a single sock. You may not be able to locate the missing Selig family but a trip to the House of Eternal Return will confirm your suspicion that all of your missing socks are indeed hiding in an alternate dimension.