Paul and Matilda Wegner constructed their "grotto" as garden decorations around a country house where they lived in summer while they lived in nearby Bangor in winter. While they had owned the property for nearly 30 years, it was only after they had retired and had visited the Dickeyville Grotto that they became inspired to embellish the yard with glass-encrusted structures. They first built a decorated fence with concrete posts cast in shallow wood boxes.
Nowadays the house and gate are gone, leaving only an empty portal to "HOME".