One of the more unique features of the Rose House is our bar.

It’s crazy to think there has been a bar operating in our space for sure since 1947, but I actually think there has been a bar operating here since 1925 when our building was built. The building started with a hotel in the front corner where our Weekday Cafe is. That hotel had a bar, which is actually the bar you can order coffee at now. When we first opened in 2019 we found a sign that had just fallen behind the sink, it says something about “Sugar Ration cards required” I will have to remember to take a picture and add it to this post. Crazy!

The mermaids that hang over our bar are a relic left from the days of the Hot fish shop. They hung over the original bar. We are so glad to keep them as a main feature. We recently did some research on these girls after a trip to the House on the Rock and seeing so many of them led us to really want to know more. They are actually not as old as we had imagined. They are from the 1980’s. They were made in Chicago by an artist named Josephine Mead, they are plaster reproductions that artist painted to look antique. They were made in several colors and styles. At the House on the Rock there are at least 12 mermaid chandeliers, maybe even more. It’s cool to know they are hand painted and somewhat locally created.

We are a fully licensed and insured bar. For this reason we provide all the bar tenders that work in our venue. Pictured here are Cole and Jenna, the are so great! In 2021 Cole and Jenna were married at the Rose House, we are so glad this led to a beautiful friendship and them becoming such a great part of our team!

Because we are not open to the public daily, we might not have as much on hand, but because we are open just for your event we have time to plan and prepare exactly for what you hope for! Some of our most popular signature drinks for events are Moscow Mules and our old fashions. We don’t use any pre-mixes for our drinks, that’s what makes them great!

A toast with all the guys and old fashions to kick things off for the cocktail hour following the wedding. They are at the Penny bar, in the penny bar there is actually $29 in pennies, and a 1925 penny! If you find it you get one free cocktail. This bar was created just for us by the “Penny Girls” they are amazing! One of their penny designs is available for sale in the gift shop, stop in to check it out, and see the bar in person while you are here.

Unfortunately today, all of my full bar photos include covid glass, we will soon have to update that. But for now you can see it a little blurred here, but in it’s fullness none the less. The brick behind the shelves is the exterior brick of what was once the hotel. Our main hall was originally an entirely separate building. It’s definitely a treat to research and discover the history as we go. Another fun fact…the bar here is the original from the Hot Fish shop, we did move it over, but it’s still a portion of the same one. At some point the original had the front redone with a blue carpeting, we did change that, what you see now is actually a friend’s old garage door, we repainted it and repurposed it to be the front of the bar. The wood underneath that section is also original to the building, it hung on the ceiling. All of our trim in the room is from that wood that used to hang up on the ceiling above the bar.

Thanks for reading and learning a little more about the past of our space as well as appreciating it for what it is today! If you go way back to our first blog, you can actually see how it used to look. Check it out right here.