June 9, 2013 ~ I have heard a lot about this place lately and wanted to go check it out so Brandon and I loaded up mom and dad and headed out on a road trip! Our first stop was 87 Diner in Boonville, MO and then we headed on over to Ravenswood in Bunceton, MO. This place was kind of creepy yet super cool. When you pulled in the driveway you knew that you would be interested in the history of this beautiful old mansion.
Ravenswood is a plantation farmhouse,
located outside of Boonville, Missouri. The home that was built in 1880
by Nadine and Charles Leonard and has been in the Leonard family for six
generations. The home is full of the original furnishings and clothing
from all around the world, gathered by the first two generations of the
house. There are over 30 furnished rooms in the three story house.
As you step up to the front door you are greeted with these unique door knockers. The sign near the door says to ring the door bell but in an old mansion like this it seemed more fitting to use the door knockers. We were greeted by a tour guide and we were the only 4 people there. She introduced herself and collected the $7.00 per person and began the tour.
The tour started in the front room and our tour guide was very knowledgeable about the history of this place including where some of the furniture came from. I wish I had brought my good camera as well as a pen and paper to jot down some of the things she was saying. (I think it's worth taking a second tour as an iPhone just doesn't capture everything)
We then wen into another room that had some really neat pieces. They left this home in it's original state and you will see some wallpaper peeling as you walk through the home. I can't imagine how prestigious this home was back in it's prime and just to see the many amazing pieces from all over the world was really interesting.
They had so many pictures of family on the walls and the current owners even have a few modern pictures sprinkled in as well. I wish I could remember all the history of the family members but I believe she said one of the owners was a Governor of Missouri but I am not 100% sure. (He might have been a brother to the owner or another family member) In this room the family had a bull that won All-American or United States Champion Bull which is all the awards you see in the top photo.
The front plate of this old grandfather clock states it was from 1790 and was from Paris, Kentucky. It was brought to Missouri by covered wagon and was moved several times as the family would take it with them. (This was the family's summer home). What a cool piece of history!
Next we went into the dinning room area. They had some of the coolest china on the table. This china was on display at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, MO and was purchased to put on display in this home. This china has never been eaten off of. In the bottom picture you see the little glasses/goblets? When the current owners were married at this house (pretty sure that is correct) they poured campaign in these glasses and toasted. Everyone about had a cow on the dinning room floor because these glasses are so old and they are paper thin that something as simple as a toast could break them. Thankfully they did not break and they are still a piece of this collection.
We then headed upstairs and it was amazing to see how spacious the bedrooms were. In this room it was neat to see the old bedding, wallpaper, and clothing. The dress in the bottom picture was from an inauguration of Grover Cleavland. It's hard to see but the picture on the dresser behind it is the bride looking into the mirror (seen in middle picture) on her wedding day. This was the only wedding ever held at this house.
A bathroom between two bedrooms.
It was really cool to see this man's bedroom with all the various uniforms on the bed. The old furniture was in good shape for the age too.
It was neat to hear the old music box when the tour guide would crank it to play. Apparently just before they got there she gave a tour to a couple of college girls and while they were downstairs the music box came on by itself. She said they didn't want to go upstairs and held on tight to each other. She told them the house is haunted but they aren't mean spirits. It didn't matter... they were scared! It wasn't scary to us and something you can easily take your kids to see. They ask that you don't touch things because of the age and to preserve the items.
We went to another bedroom that had another room behind it. She said this would have been a nursery room but was currently another bedroom. Loved the old rocking horse and bicycle.
This was the last bedroom we would visit and it had a lot of really neat stuff in it including an old steam trunk that women used for short visits.
This was Nadine's wedding dress and a picture of her in it. Amazing to see the details on it.
Here's another dress that was an original / one-of-a-kind made for her with a picture of her in it.
It's hard to see but the white part of the wall is hand tooled elephant skin. The walls were thin plaster and as they would bring the trunks up and down the halls/stairs this elephant skin would protect the walls from damage.
I really wished I had brought my good camera as my iPhone didn't do these pictures justice. Just so much to look at and wonder what life must have been like for these people. I'm sure the places they traveled to (based on the beautiful pieces they brought back) was really interesting too. I'm glad we stopped in for a visit and I would love to go back!
We drove down to the carriage house to have a quick peek inside.
If you want something different to do I recommend taking a little drive and seeing this neat old mansion. They give tours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and you can visit their website at
In the past I have visited the mansion maybe 5 times. To me what is fascinating is the fact it has never been touched. These are the "real deal" and not the recreation of some present day "designer" claiming this was how the house looked. I LOVE the fact some of the curtains are hanging in tatters! Its as close to being lost in that time period as you can get. If you are truly a history lover, this is the place for you. If you want to see a sterile recreated house, this is not. I went when the "old" Mr Leonard was alive. We even got to go to the attic! I heard his grandson started giving tours, and now a Woman? At any rate a "Must See" for the serious history lover. Of five stars I give it Five Stars. You'll never see anything like it...hopefully it will be around forever.
ReplyDeleteOne more thing; my last visit was nearly 25 years ago- when in the attic, I saw thevstair well to the tower- I was going to go up, but when I entered I saw a snake- I left the Whole tour upstairs as I burned down to the first floor. Lol..I'm sure he's gone!
ReplyDeleteOne more thing; my last visit was nearly 25 years ago- when in the attic, I saw thevstair well to the tower- I was going to go up, but when I entered I saw a snake- I left the Whole tour upstairs as I burned down to the first floor. Lol..I'm sure he's gone!
ReplyDeleteI went to ravenswood a good thirty plus years ago. The old couple gave us a tour. It cost $2.00 each and the woman asked us about 5 times if we had paid, and apologized every time stating her memory was bad. There was an old saddle I think it was in the library area off the dining room that the owner offered to sell us. It was a side saddle to the best of my recollection. We really didn't need it, but wished I had bought it now. The place was amazing ! I definitely felt like the family portraits had eyes that followed you everywhere. Will have to go back again!!
ReplyDeleteI went to the mansion when I was 10 yrs old and I'm 68 now it's been 58 years and I do remember that the front door knocker was a lion not a hand when we went in I seen a spiral staircase and when this older lady showing us up the staircase their was a old photograph and the lady said that at certain times at night that would play music I remembered that so well cause she scared me lol I want to go back again someday
DeleteExcellent write up! But....it's "mansion" not "manison" :)
ReplyDeleteHow do I contact the owner to be able to take just outside photos
ReplyDeleteIt's been years since we last visited this beautiful old home. The family is always so kind and inviting! Will have to come back and visit again soon.
ReplyDeleteHi; I was wondering who I should contact about touring the place? Are they still giving tours and if so, what the possible price is? Thanks in advance for any info.
ReplyDeleteI would give Nelson Leonard a call, his number is 660-621-0881. He could direct you about whether or not they are still giving tours!
DeleteAbout 1962, I was hired by Mary Ellen Leonard, wife of Nelson (Pike) Leonard to clean up the mansion. Mary Ellen and I became great friends.
DeleteShe asked me, "what can you do?" I said, "Everything." She smiled, and said let's get started.
For about two months, I went over just about everything on the property. She had many ideas about what she wanted, but never had anyone young and strong enough to do it. Her son Charlie wasn't interested.
So, let's start with the swimmng pool. It hadn't been cleaned out in probably 20 years. Instead of a pool, it was a rectangular pond. I went into Bunceton, and got a pump, and started draining it. After unclogging the pump multiple times, we got down to about 3 feet of sludge. There were about 50 large frogs in that mess. By large, I mean, if you held them by the feet, their heads would drag the ground. It took another 4 days to shovel out the sludge. I sold the frogs to some Chinese guy for his restaurant. After another week, we had the pool, which was in amazingly good shape, refilled and full. I swam in it often to escape the Missouri heat.
After seeing the great job on the pool, Mary Ellen wanted me to start on the dining closet. That was floor to ceiling crystal and china. Who knows how much that stuff was worth. There was a large crystal bowl marked with Tiffany's, that had an 1800 date on it. All the crystal was beautiful once I got the years of grime off of it. The China turned out to be a dinner setting for 12, that was almost completely intact. It seems like it was Rosenthal, but that was a long time ago. The silverware was mostly intact, but there were a few pieces missing. No silver plate; this was sterling. Lots of hand made lace that took multiple washings to get it white again. When we were done, everything sparkled like it did a hundred yeas ago. Mary Ellen just stood there smiling with her hands clasped together. She hugged me, and said, I never thought I would see that again. Of course, I had to work on the massive carved table, and get it up to holding all that silver and crystal, and china.
John Gowan
We went up into the attic. This was a treasure trove. The Confederate uniforms that are now on the beds, were taken out of steamer trunks and ironed. Old swords and other weapons were all over the place. Of course, being a guy, this really interested me. I cleaned an polished everything. I got the guns in working order. Then we took all the weapons down stairs and arranged them in a display and hung them on a wall. I didn't see them in the pictures, so I am wondering what happened to them. There were probably 10 trunks full of interesting Confederate memorabilia. Lots of letters and tintype pictures. The place was a museum.
ReplyDeleteThen we started on the furniture. Two pieces that really interested me were the hand carved chairs. They were dragons. With ivory eyes. The legs ended in claws on balls. Allow the furniture needed work. We glued and screwed everything back together.
Then we started on the hardwood floors. I sanded and polished for about 3 weeks, but never got to them all.
I repaired the suits of armor and set them up for display.
I asked Mary Ellen what was in the basement, and she said that she hadn't been down there in about 30 years. It was left to the "varmits"
So, I had to go check out the varmits. Just getting the doors open was a big job. Behind one I found a wood paneled billiards, room complete with everything. It was like someone finished a game and never came back. It had about an inch of dust on everything. I cleaned it up, and shot a game. The rest of the basement was a treasure trove of museum quality stuff.
We moved on to the tack room in the stable. It was full of hand tooled leather. Must have been quite something in its day. Not much to do there since the leather was cracked an mouse chewed.
Then we went to the greenhouse. This was the one pictured. I guess you would call it Victorian. It was beautiful. I repaired the doors, and started on the roof. Some of the glass panels were missing, so I looked for replacements. Under a hydroponics trough, I found glass plates. While cleaning them up I discovered that the contained Civil War images that were printed onto the glass. I sat there for hours looking at pictures that probably will never be seen again. I tried to preserve them but I think they have been lost to time.
The property had a lot of share cropper homes and a lot of unused farm equipment. Fields were left unwoorked since the slaves were freed.
So, that was my Great adventure with Ravenswood. Charlie and I didn't get along. But, I did go back to see Mary Ellen after Pike had died. She grinned and gave me a big hug. Even in the midst of all that neglect, she remained a great lady. I miss her.
John Gowan, Major. USAF, retired.
I went on to get an Aerospace Engineering degree, and a Masters degree in Material Science. My last job in the AF was to help build the world's first airborne megawatt laser weapon system. I have 5 patents for laser optics design. After I retired I set up a civil right organization, and a company that builds laser specle pattern interferometers for non-destructive testing of high tech devices.
I toured this house in the early 80's.
ReplyDeleteThe caretakers let us in, they were very informative. Beautiful home.
What is going to become of that beautiful mansion? Why is the family letting it deteriorate? I would love to see it but afraid I would get arrested for going past the locked gate.
Delete