E. W. Marland Mansion

I spent a wonderful day at the Marland Mansion. The story of E W Marland is fascinating. Well worth the trip to Ponca City.

This is probably one of the better old historical Mansions I have toured. The Tour guide was knowledgeable and informative. Highly recommend.

A MUST-SEE Oklahoma landmark! The entire place is unbelievable, and likely only surpassed by the governor's mansion in OKC. I recommend a guided tour, but you can do self-tours as well. (same price) Everything from the floor to the ceiling to the exterior and the windows and light fixtures can only be described as stunning!! It's not expensive. Take plenty of pictures and share them with your friends. They will thank you and visit it themselves to see it in person.

What you will find if you ever tour Herculaneum, or the EW Marland Mansion, is that after people are comfortable and well-fed, additional wealth basically is poured into art. Lots of art. Big art, small art. I especially delight in small artful details, and am posting a few pics as examples, but just know that this place is packed with them. Almost anywhere you look, there's something interesting.

The Petroleum Hall Of Fame resides on the bottom floor. I view it very differently than the two women who wandered in and commented, "A good old boys' club." They need to read Atlas Shrugged! One of the men on that wall employed my grandpa - he worked for Hughes Oil. Personally I would not be willing to make the sacrifices necessary for my picture to be on that wall, but I appreciate the way of life those guys made possible. EW Marland in particular seems to have been quite generous in funding hospitals and many other things that benefitted all Ponca City residents.

Have you seen the large portrait of Lydie? Apparently the artist disliked her, so he painted a serpent in near her feet. But I can't decide if that's also the reason the angle of her leg is so wrong, or if it was just a lack of talent. Either way, I'm surprised the Marlands would hang that portrait. Maybe they never noticed.

We visited the museum on a quiet day in May 2023. Because there were almost no other visitors on site, we were lucky that David, the Executive Director, could take the time to give us a fine guided tour with excellent explanations and exciting stories and we were also allowed to ask lots of questions. Well we were very interested :).
So we had a great time with David, learned a lot and were very impressed! There we have had really luck.
On this way a big thank you to David for this excellent Friday morning!

The museum is very interesting in many ways. The life story of Mr. Marland and his family is remarkable and amazing (and also a little scary and sad), the building is technically as well as stylistically, optically and architecturally exciting, there is a lot to see and you can dive into the past with pleasure and let yourself be touched if you like.

Now, yes, we had the best museum guide you could ever wish for. So we would recommend every visitor to take a tour! Really. The museum and its many exhibits and facilities do need their explanations and become all the more interesting. This information cannot be perceived in depth during a short unguided tour - unless you read up on the literature. But even if you go through briefly, it will be impressive for any visitor.

About the content: A self-made multi-millionaire builds himself a huge villa with technology that was unique at the time (air conditioning, heating, elevators), international flair (he had craftsmen come from Italy, for example, etc.) and exciting, clever and very detailed architecture. However, the whole object is not dully ostentatious but impresses with a real feel-good atmosphere.
The museum doesn't look that big from the outside, but it's huge inside.

Our conclusion and recommendation: The museum is definitely always worth a short visit - but we strongly (!) recommend to take your time and enjoy this wonderful impressive museum for two hours during a museum tour.

I absolutely LOVE working at the Marland Mansion for wedding events! We just did a styled shoot here a few weeks ago and it was a dream! Truly the most gorgeous and breathtaking venue. We had so much fun and the team here was a joy to work with!

We took our kids here as we saw the sign on I35 at first we said Ponca City ?? no thanks but we took a chance and wow this place is great, it seriously could of been transplanted from an old English countryside. The place is massive and has lots of interesting things to look at. Be careful of the stairs they are not for running or jumping. If you get there early in the day ask to see the secret tunnel !! and please buy souvenirs

Late family Christmas celebrated here (at the "cottage"). Lots of space for little ones to run and ride their bicycles and we had a beautiful view of the grounds and the lake. Many took the tour, but I did not. They reported that it was a little long, but enjoyable.

We enjoyed the tour and learning the history of Marland Mansion. David and Kim were knowledgeable, helpful, and a delight to meet. Thank you for your hospitality!

Beautiful former home of E. W. Marland and family and site of the Marland Estate. Now owned by the city of Ponca City, Oklahoma, it is preserved as a historic museum, landmark, tourist destination and event center.

It is an exceptional experience. Beautiful mansion with some very interesting history. It is very large and will take a little while to go through. I would recommend the guided tour. You will learn much more about the mansion and see things you may not see on your own.
Our guide knew A great deal about not only the house/mansion but the family who live there and built it. A great piece of the past.

Beautiful place to spend a nice Sunday afternoon. The staff were courteous, and the place has been kept well. A nice slice of recent history. The ticket is $10/adult, and I guess slightly lower for children and citizens over 65.

This is a wonderful place to stop if you are in Ponca City for the day. Air Conditioned indoor fun about the history of the Oil Barrons of Oklahoma! You can look in each room of 40,000 square foot home built in the early 1900s that had working air conditioning at the time. Tours are available.

I visited on Saturday 3/16/24 . Ardeth was my guide, she did a fantastic tour. Her knowledge was extremely educational and peaked everyone’s curiosity as we went from room to room of this palace on the prairie! Thank you- Preston Moorad Norman Ok🤠

Such a beautiful place to visit!! Very elegant. Unfortuately we didn't have time for the tour but we did a little walk through ourselves and we were not disappointed. It's freaking gorgeous inside and out. A great place to go see if you are in Ponca City.

God I love this place. The grounds are beautiful and well taken care of. I went there when I was about 10 in 1991. I loved it then and a love it now. I enjoyed being able to share my experience with my wife and daughter. Sadly the mansion is closed on Sundays and the Google maps page wasn't updated. I have realised that in these "trying times" it's always a good idea to call ahead when it comes to almost all of your destinations so I consider that mistake on me.

Amazing home with an intriguing history. A must see. Been here several times and will return. Learn more each time I go. Notice some new detail I didn't see the time before.

It is one of the must go places in oklahoma. Beautiful architect, landscaping and historical mansion. I was very excited and thrilled to visit here, unfortunately I couldn't get inside as the visiting hours timing is till 5:00 pm. But I will visit again to go inside.

Amazing place! Really enjoyed the tour and history!

Such a beautiful place that at times was filled with joy and sadness. The story is very interesting and leaves me wanting to know more. Take the guided tour first!