wilder homestead

I absolutely loved going to Almonzo's childhood home, it meant so much to me. I would have given five stars but we were refused entry into the museum portion where I could have seen something Laura had written because they were "vacuuming". I was very disappointed.

This museum greatly depicts the life and times of Almanzo Wilder and his family. When I was there they were still building the one room school house that his wife Laura Ingalls Wilder taught in. This is an awesome museum for the entire family to visit. I had the privilege of being the only person with the tour guide. The entire staff knows their history of this museum. There is also a room dedicated to the history of the Little house books and it has on display the books written in different languages.

The boyhood home of Almanzo Wilder has been lovingly restored and is now being meticulously cared for and maintained. My tour through the farmhouse, barns, school building, and grounds were informative and entertaining. From what I can tell, all the restorations have been as faithful to how the farm would have been in the mid-nineteenth century as possible. My tour guide was a delightful young lady who clearly enjoyed her job and appreciated the history. She also endured my enthusiasm with charm.

My wife has long wanted to visit the Wilder Farm having read all the books (yearly). I went along for the ride, but was very pleasantly surprised by this site. The tour guide (Amanda) was enthusiastic and knowledgable. A surprising of the house is original. The rebuilt barn is authentic; based on original foundations. We highly recommend this site. Now I want to read "Farmer Boy."

Its hard to believe that this site was almost lost to the ages, but thanks to the hard work of the people who found and restored it, you have a picture perfect window into the world of family farming in the 1800's. The tour guide was quite informative, and the grounds are neat and well cared for. A definite stop for fans of "Little House on the Prairie".

The Wilder Homestead has been on my list to see for 10 years, after visiting other "Laura sites" in Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa and South Dakota. It did not disappoint. The farmhouse has been carefully restored to the period when Almonzo lived there with his parents. The outbuildings have been reconstructed based on Almonzo Wilder's drawings. The non-profit association managing the homestead museum has done an outstanding job preserving and interpreting the site. My tour guide was very knowledgeable and answered the many questions asked during the tour. There's a short 5-8 minute walk to a beautiful trout stream also on the property. I was disappointed they did not allow for any photography in the buildings due to 'security concerns'. Can't imagine what concerns those might be. I took a plane trip and drove many miles to visit the site and would like to have captured photos for my memory book. Other than that, the site offers a wonderful history lesson for all and a thrill for Laura Ingalls Wilder fans.

This attraction is an excellent way to spend a couple of nice hours, especially on a nice day. Easy to find (5 miles east of Malone, NY) but NOT in my Garmin GPS, so you'll need a map! Stay off the main roads and wander the beautiful countryside coming and going. As the house and barn have been rebuilt to perfectly match the descriptions in the book, and the farm is surrounded by typical upstate NY farmland, its a nice opportunity to see unspoiled country!. Amazingly enough, the house was never significantly modified from the 1877 layout in the book. Lots of period artifacts and the house is full of original Wilder photos. I'd recommend re-reading the book before you go, as the guides do a nice job referring to the sections of the book that mention pretty much everything about the house and barn. If you have visited the other Ingalls/Wilder sites in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and S. Dakota, this is a must.

The house and farm have been restored with as much detail as possible. There is a working garden and a small gift shop on site. Picnic area available. If passing by a great place to spend a couple hours.

Finally after all these years I visited this place- a little out of the way that is why I never bothered- BUT it was very interesting and I did enjoy it on a nice fall day.