Laura Ingalls-Wilder is an author that I have loved since I was a very little girl. My mom used to read me The Little House on the Prairie Series and then they were the first set of chapter books that I learned to read. On family road trips we used to have to stop at different houses that Laura lived in or schools where she taught. However, living in Springfield, there is a Laura Ingalls-Wilder Home about 30 minutes away in Mansfield. I had gone once as a very little girl, but I have been wanting to go back for a while now.
This summer, my friend Waymond and I decided to take a day to revisit the house. The admission fee is 10 dollars for adults, and it includes two homes and the museum. Everything is self-guided, but there are people volunteering in the houses that you can ask questions, or if they’re really great volunteers, they will walk through it with you and explain the rooms themselves, or give you little fun facts.
The first home you tour is the farm house that Almanzo Wilder built for Laura, one room at a time. It’s a beautiful home, and is filled with a lot of her original things, like her writing desk (where some of The Little House on the Prairie books were written) and her own personal library. It’s a very small house: not only in overall size, but the cabinets were very low because Laura was so short, and it was built just for her.
The museum is filled with artifacts that belonged to Laura’s family, Laura’s daughter- Rose Wilder, and even Laura herself! The coolest one, though, is Pa’s famous fiddle! I think it’s so cool! Plus, once a year, during the Wilder Days Festival, someone plays it.
The second house is one that Rose actually had built for Laura and Almanzo’s retirement. It’s a beautiful rock house with huge open windows on the front of the house. It was a really fancy house in its time and it is still absolutely darling today.
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6 Comments
Marie Tschopp
September 24, 2013 at 6:14 pmGreat post! It’s always nice to read a post from another Laura fan! I loved both the houses, but preferred the rock one–I’ve always had a thing for English cottages. There’s something romantic about them. But, Almanzo building the other house for Laura is very romantic, too.
ashleypaige4
September 25, 2013 at 9:04 pmThanks, Marie! I loved the rock house for a house because it is one of the cutest houses I’ve ever in, but, like you, I think the farm house is really romantic and unique! Thanks for reading and commenting!
liz
September 27, 2013 at 8:00 amOh so cool! I could just get all sucked into everything there. Thanks for sharing, Paige!
ashleypaige4
September 28, 2013 at 11:56 pmOh my goodness, Liz. It’s so much fun! They have a festival every September (It was last Saturday) where they dress up, someone plays Pa’s fiddle and they have readings and other fun things! I’m really sad I missed it, but maybe in a couple years I’ll go!
Abby H.
October 2, 2013 at 12:35 pmI loved (and still do) those books so much growing up! I didn’t know you could visit the homes. How fun! Thanks for sharing!
ashleypaige4
October 2, 2013 at 6:39 pmI love them too! A lot of the homes aren’t actually still standing, some are just plaques that say she lived there, but here in Missouri we have the home she lived in with Almanzo and she wrote a lot of the books here! So cool!