White Gloves Tour at Kendrick Mansion

The second ‘White-Gloves Tour’ at the Trail End State Historic was held on August 14. Sharie Shada, Site Superintendent, lead the special after-hours tour of the Kendrick Mansion, which gave guests the opportunity to step behind the plexiglass barriers and into spaces not normally open to the public.

Those attending also got a behind-the-scenes look at some of Trail End’s artifacts that are currently not available for public viewing. There is a maximum of ten people per tour.

Shada started the tour with a brief history of the mansion.

She then led the tour to the third floor, where the ballroom is located. Guests were also encouraged look into the areas behind the walls, which was used for storage during the days the family lived in the mansion.

Attendees could also climb up to the musician’s loft, which gave them a birds-eye view of the ballroom.

Shada told one interesting story about the house.

From the ballroom the tour went down to the second floor. At the top of the second-floor stairs were several reproductions of photographs from friends of the Kendricks, including presidents and other notables.

The second floor was also where the bedrooms were located. John’s son, Manville Kendrick, had a fairly small room, but it did have balcony. There were also model ships, and paintings of ships, which were original to the room. Shada said that Manville loved boats, and as he got older, he took several cruises.

Rose Marie’s bedroom was decorated in pink and white, and in the master bedroom there were pictures that Eula Wulfjen Kendrick painted. There was also a balcony off the master bedroom.

On the first floor is the drawing room the dining room, kitchen and butler’s pantry.

In the basement of the mansion is a diorama of the OW Ranch, known as the “home ranch” where John Kendrick brought his bride in 1891, where they started their married life and raised their two children. There were also several artifacts that few guests get to see that were found at the OW Ranch and brought to the Trail End Museum.

The White Gloves Tour has been so popular that the first tours sold out, and Shada said that she added two extra dates, which also sold out, so she has opened up two more dates: 10/23/2024 at 4:00 pm 10 people max 10/24/2024 at 6:00 pm 10 people max

To sign up, people can either call me at the mansion (307-674-4589) or go online to www.trailend.org/special-events

Regular museum admission applies, no extra charge for this tour. Advance registration is required, and the white gloves are provided.