Little House in Mansfield

Oh yes. We went to see more Little House fun than just the house in Independence! After we left that one, we moved on to Mansfield, Missouri, which is where Laura lived when she wrote the Little House series. I had also been to this location previously - but as a very young child, and there was much I didn't remember about it. And boy, do I have some fun stories for you!

For those of you who might ever want to visit, I should tell you (and I should have mentioned this yesterday) that the various Little House locations are not open year round. They are open late spring/summer/early fall - so if you're planning a trip, make sure you go in season!

The Mansfield location has a higher admission fee than the one in Independence. Part of that is because the tours at this location are guided, and part of it is because this location contains so many actual pieces that belonged to Laura and Almanzo, rather than replicas and donated period pieces. So this one has a $15.00 per person admission fee. But the stamp in my passport was free! :) 

Another thing you should know is that you can't take pictures inside the houses (yes, there are two houses) - which very nearly undid me. But I powered through and tried to be okay with pictures of only the OUTSIDE of the houses!

The first house we toured was the home that Laura and Almanzo built together, room by room, as they had the money to pay for it. It's a fascinating house to see, because everything was custom-designed to fit their needs and their height!! They do tours of the houses every half hour, and when we arrived, no one else was waiting, so we got our own private tour! Our guide was really good. I told her after the tour there was NO WAY I could have kept all the dates straight without notes. But she did! 

Most of the items inside were original. A few items (mostly flooring, wallpaper, and curtains) have had to be replicated as they have worn out, but otherwise, everything is as it was when Laura lived there. 

Before we left, I dug up these gems from my childhood visit to Mansfield:

Ryan was kind to take some new versions for me:

There is a second home on the property, and they said we could either drive there (about a half mile down the road) or walk a path they put in to connect the two. We figured we could use all the extra movement, since we were spending so many hours on the road.

But as we walked, I told Ryan I was so confused about why I had no memory of this other house. (Or pictures!) On the tour, I figured it out! The second house, called the Rock Home, was not acquired by the museum until after I had visited as a child! Back then it was a privately owned residence, so it would have been weird to show up and tour it. ;)

What we learned was that Laura and Almanzo had moved to Mansfield when their daughter, Rose, was a child, and that's when they built the white house pictured above. They lived in it for many years, Rose grew up, and she began her own career as a writer. She was quite successful and decided to take some of her money to build a home for her parents that was more up with the times. So she purchased a floor plan from a Sears home (not the kit for the home - just the plan) and had it built for them.

The tour guide told us the kit would have cost her $2000 and some change to build, but the upgrades and custom work she made ended up costing her over $11,000 to build it. Laura and Almanzo didn't live there too many years before deciding they'd rather move back to the house they built.

The rock house that Rose had built was owned by other people for a while, but now it's part of the museum and you can tour it! The house is mostly empty...all the furniture that had been in it was moved back to the original house so Laura and Almanzo could use it. But the house is still so pretty. 

I fell in love with the rock house. It is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

The tour guide told us that those three French doors above were really supposed to be just two windows, but Rose, thought there needed to be more. I agree with Rose. 

THIS DOOR!!!! I am such a sucker for doors like this. 

Our tour guide also told us that rock masons had a signature technique they always used in the mortar between the rocks, and she pointed out the beautiful design in this one:

I told Ryan that while I certainly understood the sentimentality of wanting to move back to the house you designed together with your husband, I don't think I could have left this view:

(By the way, we had a private tour at this house, too. The tour guide said she was shocked, because the office had called and said the place was busy and they could expect up to 30 people per tour. We don't know where they all were, because we had the whole place to ourselves at both houses - and on the path in between!)

We spent about three hours here, total. It took us about a half hour at each house and then maybe a half hour each way on the trail. We spent the rest of the time inside the gift shop and museum!