There is no small note of pride in DeVon Rose’s voice when he calls his Bird’s Eye View Museum “the world’s largest display made from toothpicks and popsicle sticks.” Like any town, it started out small. Twenty-eight years ago, when Rose was living in Elkhart, Indiana, he built his first model: an accessory for his sons’ model railroad setup. It was a large model of his father-in-law’s workplace, a grain mill on the outskirts of Wakarusa, a small town ten miles south of Elkhart. Rose found that he liked creating this new, smaller version of reality. His two sons liked it too, and with their enthusiastic help Rose continued building: a house, a store, a church. At some point he decided to go ahead and do the whole town.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Rose’s house in Elkhart didn’t have enough room for the whole town of Wakarusa, even at the scale of five feet to the inch. The only place Rose could find with a basement big enough was an old brick house on a corner in–Wakarusa! It’s just down the street from the business district, the focus of his obsession.
Rose cuts and scores wood or cardboard to make it look like planks, bricks, shingles; then he adds the touches that make the models look so accurate. Rose is a professional draftsman, and the eye for detail required by his work is apparent in the fruits of his hobby: roofs sag, doorways lean, and weather stains discolor walls. A free-standing barber pole actually revolves. You feel like leaning down to the windows (many of which are illuminated from within) to see what the occupants are up to.
One building he has not yet re-created is his own house. He says he plans to, someday; and when he does get it set up, on that corner of bird’s-eye Wakarusa, I will be very interested in peeking into the tiny basement window.
