Home of the Wilson, Stout and LaPointe families -- three generations of Menomonie founding families -- the Wilson Place Mansion has a history as rich and colorful as that of Menomonie and Dunn County. Built-in 1859 by Captain William Wilson, it was originally a large colonial-style house with a pillared porch. Captain Wilson, was a principal in the Knapp, Stout & Co. Company, founder and first mayor of the city of Menomonie, and the area's first state senator. In 1875, he enclosed the 22-acre estate with a sandstone wall, part of which fronts the museum today.

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When Wilson died in 1892, it became the home of his daughter Angelina and son-in-law James Huff Stout, another principal in the lumber company, and civic leader. The couple extensively remodeled and expanded the home into a Queen Anne style mansion.

 

Additions included 17 marble fireplaces, a ballroom, a carved mahogany staircase, and wrap-around porches on all three floors.

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In the early 1920s, Wilson's grandson, George Wilson LaPointe, Jr., and his wife Irene took possession of the home. LaPointe too was a lumberman and owned yards across Wisconsin and Michigan. The LaPointes reduced the size of the house by two-thirds to create a Mediterranean style villa --- the building we see today.

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Today the home is The Wilson Place Mansion and provides a glimpse into the lives of Wilson and his descendants in each of the house's three major periods. The furnishings have been retained at this site since 1846. A guided tour of the museum provides visitors with a more detailed history of the home and its three generations of Wilsons.