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Street Address:
3720 Mayowood Road S.W.
Box 6411
Rochester , MN 55902-5481
Phone Number:
507 282-9447
Fax Number:
502 289-5481
Website: www.olmstedhistory.com/mayowood.htm
Run by:
The Olmstead Historical Society
Date Established:
1910
Size:
10 acres (originally over 3 thousand)
Cost:
No admission fee to grounds, fee for tours of the house
Peak Season:
Summer
Comments:
Mayowood is the mansion and surrounding grounds to the former residence of several generations of the doctors Mayo, of Mayo Clinic fame. Built in 1910 by Dr. Charlie for his family, the 148 room house is located southwest of the city of Rochester on a wooded hillside near the Zumbro River. Dr. Charlie also acquired over 3 thousand acres of surrounding land and supervised eight working farms, each with a different specific focus. There were also horse stables. Besides utility enterprises, zoological compounds were built containing birds, elk, buffalo, and Japanese deer. The Zumbro River was dammed, not only to harness water power to create electricity for his home, but to create Mayowood Lake. Within this man-made lake Dr. Charlie constructed islands. On these islands - connected to shore by suspension bridges - he designed buildings and gardens in the Japanese style. Greenhouses were built to grow exotic plants. These were quite unique in that old glass x-rays made up a portion of the structural glass. Unfortunately, neither the Japanese gardens nor the greenhouses remain. Some of the extensive limestone walls that delineated the properties (including the 3 miles leading up to the mansion) still remain, as do the limestone stables along Mayowood Road. The original stucco head house for all the greenhouses still exists and now houses an antiques business. Though certainly reduced in scale from its heyday, there are still ample gardens around Mayowood with a fountain, terraces, statuary, a pergola and a tea house. The gardens were named to the list of the "Top 10-20 Unique Garden Sites in the Country". There are plans proposed for the restoration of the Mayowood gardens.
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