Smith Mansion

Information courtesy of Wikipedia

Images have been transported from websites online, I don't claim any legal ownage of these images and illustrations

Looking for a remarkable and free destination to add to your bucket list? Look no further than this one-of-a-kind building! Whether you're a local or a traveler, you can visit this roadside attraction anytime without worrying about admission fees or lines. Don't miss out on the chance to experience this unique and historical landmark!

you can drag it, zoom, and click on the four highlighted areas or points of interest for information!

"The mountains began to erode as soon as uplift started. The eroded sediment was deposited in the adjacent basins.  By about 10 million years ago the basins were filled and the sediment lapped onto the mountains, entirely burying them in some places. Rivers flowed on these ancient landscapes carrying sediment and began to erode with regional uplift some five million years ago. The Shoshone River was one such stream that eventually got trapped in its path by resistant rock and continued to cut downward through the crystalline basement. Flowing water carved the mountain into two pieces, Cedar Mountain and Rattlesnake Mountain.  Geologists refer to this as a superposed river. The results of this process can be observed in several places in Wyoming.  The canyons produced this way have a characteristic "V" shaped profile."  ^{Cited from GeoWyo.com} 

"Fishing regulations on Buffalo Bill Reservoir are different than most other lakes in the Cody Region. Two rods are permitted since it is not a special ice fishing regulation body of water and the use of live minnows is prohibited. The creel limit on trout (excluding lake trout) is three per day or in possession. No more than two shall be cutthroat trout; and no more than one trout (excluding lake trout) shall exceed 18 inches. Lake trout creel is six, with no more than one over 24 inches. Walleye are designated as nongame fish and shall be killed immediately with no creel limit or possession limit."  ^{Cited from Wyoming Game and Fish.gov} 

Cody is the neighboring town To the Reservoir, Mountain, and Smith Mansion, and there are plenty of fun things to do there, you Could visit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West! The Buffalo Bill Center of the West, formerly known as the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, is a complex of five museums and a research library featuring art and artifacts of the American West; Entry is $28.00! Another place to visit is the Cody Firearms Experience, LLC where you can try modern weaponry, or weaponry from the age of the Wild West! Another recommendation is to visit Buffalo Bill's Irma Hotel & restaurant, a high-end dine-in with the hotel, providing a full menu of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, even an entire menu dedicated to wines and beers! There are so many things to do in Cody, you can visit many historical areas, and recreational stops, such as one of their museums or their Old Trail Town.

Francis Lee Smith was born January 4, 1944, in  Cody, Wyoming  to Irene B. and George R. Smith; he had two brothers, George D. and William H. Smith. Raised in Cody and attending  Cody High School , he studied architecture at  Montana State University , graduating in 1967 with honors.

In 1952, a large  wildfire  swept over Rattlesnake Mountain, just west of Cody. It left large amounts of  timber  unclaimed, and Smith decided to use this to build what he described as "A tribute to the North Fork Mountains" He chose the site atop the hill as he believed it to be the geographic center of the Wapiti Valley.

Lee broke ground in mid-1971, intending to build a family home for his wife and expected children. But once the first floor had been completed in early 1973, he decided to add more floors. Smith and his family lived in it while he was building it, without any electricity, running water, air conditioning, or gas, with the only source of heat in the entire building being a small wood-burning  fireplace  on the first floor.

In the early 1980s, Smith's wife Linda Smith-Mills divorced him, citing his continued obsession with building his mansion. ^{[ citation needed ]}  According to her, when she divorced him, he seemed to "throw himself... deeper into the building of his house", and "Without me,... his house became his everything."

Smith was working on an upper-level balcony of the house at about 6 pm on April 25, 1992, when, reportedly, a large section of timber came loose and knocked him off the balcony. He fell roughly 20 feet (6.0m), his head or neck hitting a roof below, and dying instantly. A day later, a neighbor reported having seen Smith's dead body to the local sheriff's office. Smith was pronounced dead on scene. He is buried in Cody Cemetery, in his hometown of  Cody , next to his mother and father.

Caretaking

After Francis Lee Smith died in 1992, his daughter Sunny Smith-Larsen has been the caretaker of the property. In October 2009, Paul and Sunny Larsen created the Smith Mansion Preservation Project, a  charity  website that sees to regular clean-ups and maintenance.

Purchase

[The owner of Smith Mansion is uncomfortable with some of the information here.]

In October 2019, the Smith Mansion was sold to [__] of Mountain Lodging, a lodging company that owns many properties in the surrounding  Cody  area, including the Green Creek Inn & RV at the bottom of the hill the mansion rests on. Its sale price was not listed; however, estimates ranged between [__] and [__] with  Realtor  giving an estimated value of [__].

1.  "Obituaries: Francis Lee Smith". Cody Enterprise. Apr 27, 1992.
2.  ^  Larsen, Paul.  "The Artist, Lee Smith" . Smith Mansion Preservation Project. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
3.  ^  Nir, Sarah Maslin (Feb 1, 2012).  "Gone With The Whimsy" . The New York Times. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
4.  ^  Westmaas, Reuben.  "The Smith Mansion Is a Giant, Twisting House in Wyoming That Killed Its Owner" . Discovery. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
5.  ^  Larsen, Sunny Smith.  "SMPP" . Smith Mansion Preservation Project. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
6.  ^  Wiederspahn, Annaliese (Feb 2, 2020).  "Wyoming's Weird and Wacky Smith Mansion Finally Sells" . Cowboy State Daily. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
7.  ^  Wolfson, Leo (Jan 27, 2020).  "Smith Mansion property purchased" . Cody Enterprise. Retrieved 6 April 2023.