Visit The Wandmaker's House

The Wandmaker’s House is a mystery adventure space in inner Southeast Portland. It’s located in a warehouse space that is broken up into rooms that hold clues to answer riddles. You enter the space and you can chose to just hang out or try to solve the mystery. I recommend solving the mystery, though — it’s pretty fun and  staff are there to help you out and give guidance as needed.

My two kids, ages 8 and 10, our friend Alexandra (adult), and I spent about 45 minutes zooming around the space trying to solve the puzzles and figure out the ingredients to the Wandmaker’s spell. We had a really good time; the mysteries were surprisingly tricky, especially considering the space is decorated pretty sparsely (it’s not full of misleading items). Everything there is either clue or atmosphere — nothing is there to confuse or befuddle.

My oldest son Alvah (10 years old) was skeptical, at best, of what we were about to encounter. He tends to go into things pretty sure they will be terrible, and then he has a great time. Here is a mini interview between us regarding the Wandmaker’s House.

Me: What did you think about the Wandmakers House yesterday?

Alvah: It was pretty cool; it was a mystery.

Me: What should people know about it?

Alvah: It requires everyone to work together. And you need to solve a bunch of riddles. If someone is not too good at puzzles, you might want to do some puzzles first so you’re prepared.. You have to solve a mystery and there is a bunch of clues. I don’t want to get too detailed.

Me: Was it scary at all?

Alvah: Nah. It was fun, it was cool and you get to swim in a tub of balls …

Me: Anything else?

Alvah: It involves magic and the waiting room is great.

That’s a pretty rave review from 10 year old Alvah. I asked Heywood, who is 8, what he thought, too, and he said:

Heywood: It was a lot more difficult than I thought would be. It was a lot of fun. So you should go there sometime. It’s fun and difficult. It’s not going to be a bajillion people there, so yeaahhh.

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Basically, The Wandmaker’s House is super fun and great for a group or family activity. You work together, seek out clues, solve the mystery, and get to experience a really cool space. Also, one thing that makes it great is they limit the number of people who can go through at a time. As a family, we highly recommend it. A++.

The Wandmakers House
Tickets are $10 per child and $15 per adult.

November hours: Fridays: 6 pm-10 pm, Saturdays: 1 pm-10 pm, Sundays: 1 pm-8 pm.
December Hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 1pm – 6pm plus; special openings on December 26 and January 1 from 1 pm-6 pm