Mary Nohl Art Environment, Visionary environment in Fox Point, Wisconsin, United States
Mary Nohl Art Environment is a house in Fox Point, Wisconsin, where the exterior, yard, and interior are all covered with handmade works of art. The yard holds concrete sculptures placed among trees, while the inside features painted walls, handmade stained glass windows, and carved wooden objects throughout every room.
Mary Nohl started transforming her family's lakeside home in the 1940s and continued adding to it until shortly before her death in 2001. After her death, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center took stewardship of the property to keep it intact.
The colored glass windows and painted interior walls reflect a very personal artistic language that Mary Nohl developed over decades. Every surface on the property was a deliberate choice, and visitors can see how she treated even the smallest corner as part of a larger whole.
The property sits on the shore of Lake Michigan in Fox Point, a residential area north of Milwaukee, and the exterior is visible from the street. Access to the interior is not open to the general public and requires arranging a visit through the John Michael Kohler Arts Center.
Mary Nohl was a trained sculptor and art educator, but the lakeside house was her true life's work, made entirely outside the official art world. Local children once called the property the witch's house because the sculptures look strange and unsettling after dark.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
