A place that I have always wanted to visit is Laura Ingalls Wilder's home. I had no idea, until recently, that there are no less than 7 homes/museums that you can visit around the Midwest of America. Where do I begin!?!
Last summer, as we were driving from Springfield, MO to Winston Salem, NC, we passed the Laura Ingalls Wilder home in Mansfield, MO...and I was almost spontaneous and stopped for a visit. Alas, we were traveling on a Sunday morning and they don't open until 1 in the afternoon on Sundays. SO, I said, "next year!"
This was it, the year of the "Laura" visit!
We have been visiting with my Dad and Aunt Jan in Branson, MO and so we took some time today to head out Mansfield way.
The location is certainly rural, and there are actually two houses to see. The original farmhouse that Laura and Almanzo built when they first came to MO in the 1890's with little Rose, and then the modern "Rock House" that Rose built for her parents for their retirement in the 1920's. You get to tour and hear the stories behind both homes, how they were built, what the stories where that were written in each location, and all about how the rest of the Ingalls family fared in their later years. The museum is full of newspaper clippings, clothes and books and furniture from the house, lots of first editions and foreign translations of all the of the Little House books, Pa's fiddle and Green book that he told stories out of, lots and lots of pictures of the family, etc. It was fascinating and we read most, but not all that there was to read.
Some of the favorite things we read and learned about....
- Rose made her money publishing long before her mother did. During the Depression she was the 2nd highest paid author in the US, making over $100,000. She built the Rock House for $11,000 with all the modern conveniences and had it, and the original farmhouse, fitted with electricity in the late 1920's. About 25 years before the rest of the homes in the area got electricity.
-Laura got about 50 pieces of fan mail a day and tried to hand write responses to each and every letter. She died 3 days after her 90th birthday and the historical society has tried to leave her house in pretty much the exact same condition it was left in on the day of her death, including birthday cards on her dining room table that she was responding to.
-The Rock House, and 40 acres around it, were sold off after Laura and Almanzo only lived in it for 8 years. They had no emotional attachment to it, Rose built it for them, but they didn't really want it, and so they didn't stay in the house very long. They moved back to the old farmhouse and the Wilder Association only just repurchased the house in 1990 and opened it for tours in 1997.
I could go on and on, but you just have to go! It's really neat if you are at all a fan of the Little House books.
You aren't able to take pictures inside of the homes or the museum, so you'll have to do with some outside shots...and then go there to see it yourself! Enjoy!
What you see when you first drive up! Lots of beautiful trees and gardens.
The kids with my Aunt Jan.
The front door to the Rock House. It was copied off an English country cottage.
A sign outside of the Rock House. The blue building in the background is not the Rock House, see that above. This blue building is for the Wilder Association.
The boys playing on the grounds, while we waited for the tour.
My dad, Aunt Jan, Indy and the kids, outside of the original farmhouse. About 30,000 visitors a year come through the house and it still has it's original flooring and most of the original furniture. The furniture and layout, even Almanzo's medicines, are all still exactly where Laura left them when she died.
My girl, outside of the museum, enjoying the beautiful gardens.
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