Mansfield Travel Guide

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Rose married and divorced after 8 years. She did not have any children. When she died she was buried next to her parents. None of Laura's sisters had any children and this family line has literally "died out".

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Their daughter Rose became quite a successful author and journalist and decided to build a new "modern" home for her parents. The home she built was "The Cottage" from Sears, Roebuck and Company. Laura wanted to have stones on the exterior, but the original plans called for shingles. The home Rose built was much larger than the original floor plans and cost over $11,000 to build. She gave them the keys to the house on Christmas morning.
Laura and Almanzo really preferred their original home, so after living in The Cottage for 8 years they moved their things back to their white farmhouse, where Laura did much of her writing. Her desk is still preserved there, just as she left it. Almanzo was a good craftsman and many of the things he made for their home are on display.

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We bought Senior tickets for $6 each in the entry to the museum. They had a tour ready so we started with the movie and then the guided tour through the house. We couldn't take any pictures inside. Laura and Almanzo Wilder moved to Mansfield, Missouri in 1894 where they built a small one room home and started their farm. Laura named it Rocky Ridge.
Through the years Almanzo added on to the original building. He was quite a genius and engineer, devising ways to enhance Laura's life on the farm.

This is the place where Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote her 'Little House Books' and where Laura & Almanzo lived until their deaths.
Park in the small parking lot across the road and make your way up to the museum where you can purchase your tickets & look at the museum whilst you're waiting for your tour.
The museum contains many personal items belonging to Laura, Almanzo & Rose which bring to life the people she wrote about in her stories.
You are taken on a guided tour through the Wilder home, entering via the Kitchen and exiting via the lounge area.
It has a homely atmosphere & you can imagine that the owners have just popped out & will be back anytime now to continue their lives.
I even smelt uncooked Gingerbread as i stood in her kitchen which was really strange!
The tour guide was very informative and said that she had met Laura when she was very young.
Unfortunately photographs are not permitted inside the house but you can takle photos within the grounds.
The gift shop sells the usual little house items as well as some unique to the Rocky Ridge site.
If you visit the site in fall watch your head for the falling walnuts coming from the many trees on the farm.
On the opposite side of town there is the Mansfield Cemmetary where signposts point you to the headstones of Laura, Almanzo & Rose.
The admission price also includes a visit to the stone house that Rose Lane had built for her parents but there is very little to see inside except to admire the amazing views.

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This is the home that Almanzo built when they moved to Mansfield. This is the home that Laura wrote the Little House books in. There is a small museum housing artifacts from the book (like Ida's piece of lace and Ma's pen shaped like a feather) as well as plenty of photographs. You can tour the house, which is exactly like it was when Laura lived there. The counters are low down because Laura was short. You can even see furniture that Almanzo made. It is well worth the visit, no matter how far you have to drive.

Also on site, is a house that Rose built for Laura and Almanzo. That house was in great disrepair for a while, but is now being restored.

This view, from the front yard of the "new" or "temporary" Wilders home, is typical of the scenery in this part of Missouri. While not as hilly as the nearby Ozark Mountains, its rolling terrain is pleasant to view.

Rose, the youngest daughter of Almonzo and Laura, became a well-known and successful writer, as well. She felt that her parents should not have to continue living in the modest surroundings of their old farm home, and had this beautiful cottage built for them, a short walk over the hill and through the woods, from their old home. The Ingalls lived here for a couple of years, but Laura preferred the familiar surroundings of the farm house she had lived in for so many years, and they returned there for the remainder of their days.

You can visit the "new" home; in fact, it's a very nice place with a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside.

In 1894, Laura, husband Almanzo and daughter Rose came by covered wagon to Mansfield from De Smet, South Dakota. They purchased forty acres of land where they established a dairy, fruit, and poultry farm. The farm later grew to 200 acres. In this home she authored the series of "Little House" books, published between 1932 and 1943. Almanzo died at Rocky Ridge in 1949 at the age of 92, and Laura lived here until her death at the age of 90, in 1957. Until her final years she continued to meet with groups of adoring children to talk about her books and her life on the American frontier.

House tours are available; all furnishings in the home were owned by the Wilders. The adjoining museum is extremely interesting, filled with artifacts from her interesting life. Photos are not permitted inside the house or museum, thus no interior pictures on my page.