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Inside Swing House, a One-of-a-Kind Interactive Art Exhibit in Camp Washington

By CityBeat Staff on Thu, May 6, 2021 at 8:00 am

Take a Tour or Spend the Night in Camp Washington's Art Abode, Swing House Camp Washington's Swing House is

The Swing House is a whole-building art project — a freestanding 188os three-story brick home in Camp Washington where owner and artist Mark de Jong has removed the interior walls and upper floors and built a swing right in the middle of the opened-up interior. Made from pine he salvaged from third floor joists, the wing is attached by 30 feet of natural-fiber rope to a metal beam on the ceiling. There are several ways to visit the stunning space. De Jong hosts an open house for guests to experience the Swing House on the first Saturday of every month. And if you're interested in spending the night at the home, there is a listing available on Airbnb. Monthly Open House: 12-4 p.m. Second Saturday of every month. Swing House, 1373 Avon Pl., Camp Washington For the Airbnb listing, click here. For more info about the Swing House, click here.

Photos by Hailey Bollinger

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Hailey Bollinger

Mark de Jong has previously done commercial renovations and even took preliminary steps toward creating a full-fledged art house with two earlier projects. But he worked on the Swing House, as he calls it, for three years

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Hailey Bollinger

The Swing House is located at 1373 Avon Place in Camp Washington

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Hailey Bollinger

The wood furniture that de Jong made — sometimes from reused house material, sometimes from other sources — is an extension, rather than an interruption, of his art-house ethos

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Hailey Bollinger

Artist de Jong and his completed Swing House received an exhibit at the CAC April 20-Sept. 2 of 2018. The swing is an experiential and experimental artwork — as is the house that surrounds, complements and is named for it

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Hailey Bollinger

The ropes are attached to a metal beam across the ceiling

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Hailey Bollinger

A view of the kitchen from closer to the front door

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Hailey Bollinger

Artwork upstairs at Swing House

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Hailey Bollinger

“To me, it’s changed the landscape of what art and architecture are in Cincinnati,” CAC curator Steven Matijcio told CityBeat in April 2017. “I’ve not seen a project like this since I’ve been here. I think it’s a major piece that can stand on its own in a national spectrum.”

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Inside Swing House, a One-of-a-Kind Interactive Art Exhibit in Camp Washington

Hailey Bollinger

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Hailey Bollinger

View looking up at the ceiling from the first floor

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Hailey Bollinger

The swing represents freedom from architectural convention — it’s a radical departure from our expectations of everyday domesticity

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A “floating” cabinet. “To the best that I can, I made the furniture look like it floats,” says de Jong

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Hailey Bollinger

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Hailey Bollinger

The modernist wood kitchen island, which contains a sink and burners, has a base that’s ever so slightly recessed, as if it’s disappearing before our eyes

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Hailey Bollinger

In many places on the interior walls, de Jong has removed layers of plaster and paint to reveal older layers, giving all the past colors of its former rooms a chance to visually converse with each other while we watch and “listen”

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