The Leland Stanford Mansion Guide

The Leland Stanford Mansion was finished being built in 1857 but wasn't occupied by the Stanfords until 1861 when he was the 8th governor of California. Purchased for $8,000 at that time, it would now be equivalent to $259,465.06 or a mere fraction of its value.

Originally the home was 2 stories but as the one of the "Big Four" railroad tycoons, Leland and his wife Jane gave the home a new 1st floor and an additional 4th floor. The home was one of the first 3 homes in the Sacramento area to have running water indoors.

This stunning home is a massive 19,000 square feet and has been restored to its golden days. At a cost of $20,000,000 in 2005 the renovation was completed with the use of photographs from 1871, when the home was documented for its extravagance.

Quick, But Important Info:

I wanted to go over some boring but essential information that goes along with any State Park and these are things like parking, bathroom facilities, rules regarding pets and whether you can have food and drink on the premises.

Bathrooms:

Dogs:

There are no dogs allowed on the grounds or in the mansion itself. The only exception to this rule is if it is a certified service dog.

Food & Water:

No food or drink are allowed inside the mansion. I did see a few people taking their lunch break in the garden area, though, where the atmosphere is nice, and the surrounding area is quite peaceful. Since you are at downtown, there are plenty of places around that you can grab something to eat or drink quite easily.

Leland Stanford Mansion Map:

What's There To See At The Leland Stanford Mansion?

This California State Park is a hidden gem right in the heart of Sacramento. Until we went to the California State Railroad Museum, I didn't know that Leland Stanford existed nor his mansion. With about 75,000 visitors a year, it isn't usually busy with the exceptions of the weekends. 

When you drive up to the home on N Street you will see just how impressive the architecture is of this 1856 stately home. When it was originally built for Mr. Sheldon Fogus who sold the home to the Stanfords in 1861 the same year that Leland was elected to the position of Governor of California. 

The mansion is a mix of architectural styles, with its beginnings as a 2-story brick house. It originally had four rooms separated by a hallway on each floor also known as a four-over-four. Once the major renovation began in 1871 the styles of Renaissance Revival and Second Empire architecture were integrated.

No Photography Allowed:

As there is no photography allowed, the only real way to see the splendor of the mansion is by visiting it. The 3 photos below are courtesy of lesperancedesign.com they are top-notch at what they do and are responsible for the interior design. You can view their entire photo gallery on their website. I may be purchasing some cool pics from the archive, so this will be updated, but you will still need to talk about the no pic rule.

Ballroom: 

The ballroom was used for entertaining and still is to this day! The mansion has been used by all the governors of California, even for more recent occasions. On our tour of the house, our tour guide stated that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger used the mansion often and knew how to throw a party, which was done regularly. 

Billiards Room:

Back in a time before the game of pool, billiards has been around since the 15th century and began as an outdoor game. Mrs. Jane Stanford would often have ladies over for a game of billiards. In the photo above you see Leland Stanford Jr, Jane Stanford and her sister.

Entryway:

After coming up the double grand staircase, you would have entered in though these massive doors. This would have originally been the first floor, but Leland had the house raised, making the first floor the second. The river used to flood, and most homes would be filled with water and sediment and mud.

Receiving Parlor:

The room to awe your guests with, and it does the job. When you enter this room you will be in awe of the details of this room. As the home had been transformed during its days as an orphanage, it was again transformed back when lesperancedesign took the photographs taken for Leland and transformed this once orphanage back to its original grandeur.

Leland and Jane Stanford

Amasa Leland Stanford was born in March the 9th of 1824 in Watervliet, New York to Josiah and Elizabeth Phillips Stanford. He was 1 of 8 children and raised on farms in and around the Albany, New York area. He attended public school then was homeschooled for 3 more years. After basic schooling he studied law at Cazenovia Seminary, whereupon completion he apprenticed for 3 years before becoming a lawyer.

In September 1850 he married Jane Elizabeth Lathrop, who was also from the Albany area. After an unfortunate event and the loss of his law practice and law library to a fire, he left for California in the year 1852, following 5 of his brothers out here. Jane stayed in New York to take care of her father and once he passed away in 1855, he came back to New York to get Jane and they moved the following year to Sacramento.

Here he dabbled in small business ventures until he found a niche worth investing into, what would become the Transcontinental Railroad. Leland Stanford was elected the president of the Central Pacific Railroad in 1861 and that same year he was also elected as the 8th governor of California as a Republican. During his time as governor he managed to cut the state's debt in half, and he advocated for the conservation of forests.

In May of 1868 he joined again with some investors of the Central Pacific Railroad to form the Pacific Union Express Company. This company merged in 1870 with Wells Fargo and Leland sat as director for many years. Also that same year at the age of 44 became a father when Jane gave birth to the one and only child Leland Dewitt Stanford. He was the joy of their life and when he passed away at the age of 15 they were devastated, the Stanfords created Stanford University in his honor. 

He wore many hats in his lifetime and dabbled in many business ventures, many times was most always either president or board chair of any company that he was a part of. From railroads, vineyards, mining, racehorses, banking, schools and charity.  Leland Stanford passed away of heart failure at home in Palo Alto, California, on June 21, 1893.

What's Nearby?

Since the tour of the mansion will usually only take 1-2 hours, you will probably want to check out some other cool places in the area. Old Sacramento State Historic Park is just a 10-minute walk down the road, with buildings dating back to the late 1840s. Gift shops and restaurants fill these historic buildings. Also in the Old Town Sac area is the California State Railroad Museum, which is a not to be missed state park highlighting the history of the locomotive. This is one if not the best locomotive museum in all the United States.

If you head 4 minutes walk in the opposite direction of Old Sacramento, you will find the California State Capitol Museum as well as California State Capitol Park and gardens. By car, you can be at Sutters Fort State Historic Park in 7 minutes and learn about California history dating back to when California still belonged to Mexico and the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846. There is so much history in the Sacramento area that it may take more than one day trip to visit, but its time well spent. 

Helpful Resources:

Here is a short list of some of the resources I used to gather the information for this article, that mean we came from the state parks website and a lot of the historical information we gathered came from the Library of Congress' archives.

• CA State Parks Page
• Park Brochure
• Library of Congress