Comprehensive Primary-Source Compilation Details Ivinson Mansion and Laramie Plains Museum

The Ivinson Mansion, current home of the Laramie Plains Museum, occupies Lots 1-8, block 178 in Laramie and totals 11,726 square feet of interior space. Built in 1892 for Jane and Edward Ivinson, the three-story Victorian house with a basement was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 23, 1972, under reference number 72001295, and was acquired that same year by the Laramie Plains Museum Association.

Architectural credits list Walter E. Ware of Salt Lake City as architect and Frank Cook as the local contractor. The main level is built of stone while the upper stories are wood-frame construction; the front is described as eight rooms wide and includes a left-hand square tower with a steep pyramidal roof, a slightly smaller octagonal right turret with a bell-shaped roof, and a projecting one-story porch. Interior measurements provided by museum materials show the basement at 3,070 sq ft, first floor 3,306 sq ft, second floor 3,063 sq ft, and a third floor of 2,289 sq ft. The Laramiemuseum site calls the central staircase a “flying staircase” and notes that “the staircase is known as a flying staircase, and should stand by itself if the walls were taken away.”

The house’s uses have shifted over time. Jane and Edward Ivinson built the mansion in 1892; Edward Ivinson later donated the building to the Episcopal Church, which operated a girls’ boarding school there until 1958. The Girls’ School constructed the Alice Harvey Stevens Center as a gymnasium; IntermountainHistories notes that the Stevens Center and the mansion grounds are available for weddings, classes, parties, and other community events. A World War I memorial obelisk that Edward Ivinson donated in 1921 stands to the right of the home in historical descriptions.

As a museum, the property presents room-by-room interpretation. Laramiemuseum room descriptions identify a maid’s room once occupied by Sarah Thobro, an immigrant from Sweden, and a guest bath with an original tub “with a cherry rim” and an adjoining balcony where servants would air linens. SavingPlaces characterizes the site as “one the region’s finest repositories of history” and says the house was “Saved from demolition” and “restored to its original 1892 opulence,” adding that “a docent-led tour is a treasured step back in time to understand its pioneer owners and view three floors of area artifacts.”

Visitor services and operations listed in historical materials include guided tours and seasonal hours. IntermountainHistories states guides offer tours from 1:00 to 4:00 PM Tuesdays through Saturdays and that during summer months the museum operates 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Tuesdays through Thursdays and Sunday afternoons. National Trust member benefits noted by SavingPlaces include $2 off admission and 20 percent off merchandise in the museum shop.

Public records and descriptive sources contain a few data anomalies worth noting: Wikipedia’s property table lists the area as “0 acres (0 ha),” while SavingPlaces describes the site as a “full-square-block property.” The mansion’s coordinates are recorded as 41.31222°N, -105.58833°W and the legal lot data remain Lots 1-8, block 178. For visitor direction, the Laramie area visitor center is listed at 800 S. 3rd Street, Laramie, Wyoming 82070, with phone (307) 745-4195.