For more than 60 years, Sharon greeted visitors at the front desk, welcoming families as they arrived.
Wayne Underwood still remembers the first time his family stepped inside the Mystery House—months after they had already bought the property.
In 1958, the Underwoods weren’t searching for a tourist attraction. They were looking for a place to open a restaurant. When they saw a “For Sale” sign along the road between Boone and Blowing Rock, they took a chance, purchasing what had once been an apple orchard in the mountains. They opened their restaurant and went to work, operating on the property for five months before ever seeing the attraction that would come to define it.
When the previous owners returned that summer and finally showed them the Mystery House, everything shifted.
The attraction itself had begun in the 1940s, when a Florida couple noticed unusual phenomena on the land—people feeling off balance, trees growing against the prevailing wind, and strange distortions in perception. Inspired by a similar attraction in California, they built a small roadside stop around those experiences.
Inside the Mystery House, those same sensations remain. Visitors lean when they think they’re standing straight. Objects appear to move on their own. Even now, Wayne describes the feeling simply: “It feels like I’m walking on marbles.”
But for the Underwoods, the future of Mystery Hill was never just about the mystery.
Wayne’s parents were restaurant owners in Boone who believed in taking care of people. That same philosophy carried over when they took over Mystery Hill. “Take care of the people, and they’ll take care of you,” Wayne says.
Wayne grew up working there and eventually ran the attraction alongside his wife, Sharon. For more than 60 years, Sharon greeted visitors at the front desk, welcoming families as they arrived. Guests still come in today and talk about her, remembering the way she made the place feel personal.
Visitors don’t simply pass through Mystery Hill on their own. They’re guided through the space, shown how the exhibits work, and encouraged to take part. The Mystery House remains at the center, but it’s surrounded by hands-on experiences, like gem mining, tomahawk throwing, and mechanical bull riding.
Over the decades, visitors have come back with children, then grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren—often sharing the same stories but experiencing them in new ways.
Today, Mystery Hill is still family-run, now in its third generation.
As Wayne puts it, when people leave, there’s only one thing he hopes they say:
“We had fun today.”
Wanna Go?
Mystery Hill
MysteryHill.com
129 Mystery Hill Lane, Blowing Rock, NC 28605
(828) 264-2792
