Would anyone build a house like this near Mt Rushmore?

Hitchcock would respond, "Don't be droll,sir."

Or one of his favorite quotes: "I practice absurdity quite religiously."

Hitchocck said at one time that the entire reason that he MADE North by Northwest was to stage a scene on Mount Rushmore.

It was simply a matter of coming up with some plausible looking reason to put a house up there.

And the reason is plausible enough. I would toss out these surmises about why VANDAMM chose this house:

He tends to sneak into abandoned houses(the Glen Cove mansion), or he might rent them. I doubt that he owns the Mount Rushmore house.

That location allows for a pretty swift flight across the Canadian border...and on to Russia, via Canada and Alaska.

The location is hard to get to, hard to attack. A fortress if needed. With an airstrip for escape.

And also perhaps this: Vandamm is a bit of a "gamesman," a practical joker. He tries to kill Thornhill with a drunken drive and a crop duster. Its FUN.

What better joke on the US of A than to HQ a cell of Communist spies right behind the heads of the US Presidents? Ha, ha, ha.

Logically AGAINST this scenario: I've been to Mount Rushmore. I don't think there is really much room up there behind the Presidential heads to build much of anything.

But as Hitchcock also said, "North by Northwest" is "a pure fantasy."

I wouldn't mind. The house looked lovely.

Poorly Lived and Poorly Died, Poorly Buried and No One Cried

Looks like someone's vacation home. They probably either killed the actual owners or gave them a ton of hush money for the access.

Rapid City isn't terribly far for amenities.



...top 50 http://www.imdb.com/list/ls056413299/

Would anyone build a house like this near Mt Rushmore?