Never Never, Now and Forever The Mushroom House Tale

The Mushroom house is a real cabin built by Rod & Shannon. They purchased a two acre parcel of vacant land in 2019 with a vision to build something unique. Working mainly on the weekends, the two built most of the cabin themselves over the course of 3+ years.

Never Never Land was a storybook themed attraction at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, Washington which opened on July 4, 1964. It was located along a forest trail, representing at its height 29 childhood storybook rhymes and tales such as the Three Little Pigs, Humpty Dumpty, Three Billy Goats Gruff, Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, and Hickory, Dickory Dock. With toys, a stage for plays and interactive exhibits, the theme park created many fond, wonderful childhood memories over the years for so many residents of Tacoma and those who visited.
The Sculptor

The figures were cast fiberglass, originally created by Hungarian-born sculptor Elek Imredy in 1962 for Wooded Wonderland, in Victoria, B.C. Another set was made and hand painted by Imredy in 1964 for Tacoma's Never Never Land. A third park in Hill Island, Ontario also received an identical set of the figures soon after.

All the parks eventually closed with Never Never Land lasting the longest, closing in 2001 after years of coping with constant vandalism and theft as well as the high cost of maintenance and operations. In 2010, the last pieces of the scenes were permanently removed and the land was left to return to a natural state.

In 2011 an arsonist set fire to the Pagoda in Point Defiance Park where the figures were being stored in the basement. The fire destroyed most of the building and about half of the collection was totally lost, and many were damaged.
Legacy

There was some talk and effort by the community and Metro Parks Tacoma to reopen Never Never Land, but on September 22, 2021 the Park made the difficult decision to auction off the remaining pieces with proceeds of the auction going back to the Park.

Rod & Shannon were able to acquire five of the figurines, Little Jack Horner, Little Miss Muffet, and the Three Men in a Tub and gave them a new, permanent home at The Mushroom House where they could return to the forest and continue to inspire wonder and feed our childhood imagination.

Rod currently resides in Tacoma, Washington with Shannon and their cat Cleo.Shannon currently resides in Tacoma, Washington with Rod and their cat Cleo.Hillarie is an artist specializing in murals, pets, and painting scenes from her beloved Pacific Northwest. She achieved her BFA in Fine Art and Graphic Design from the Northwest College of Art. She is born and raised in Gig Harbor, Washington where she lives with her children Cora, Mason and Leila. You can usually find her downtown in her studio painting, walking her dog Kitty, or on the water in the picturesque harbor.