The interior architecture club at Oklahoma Christian University, OCIA, took a trip to Ponca City on April 11, with a goal of touring the Marland Mansion and its surrounding grounds. While not only enjoyable, this trip was educational and taught students about local history and featured historical artwork, architecture and furnishings.
A man by the name of Earnest Whitworth Marland built the Marland Mansion in 1928. He arrived in Oklahoma in 1908 and went into the oil business. Soon after striking it rich, Marland built his first home in Ponca City, which is known as the Marland Grand Home. This home featured new technology such as a central vacuuming system and an automatic dishwasher. It also housed Oklahoma’s first indoor swimming pool. However, after the death of his first wife, Marland decided to build an even grander home, the Marland Mansion, as a personal enjoyment of the financial success of his oil company. Before being taken over by J.P. Morgan, Marland was said to have owned one-tenth of all the world’s oil reserves. Marland Oil became a part of the Continental Oil Company (CONOCO), which is now ConocoPhillips.
Architect John Duncan Forsyth designed the house to follow the style of the Davanzati Palace in Florence, and it took 3 years to build. Once finished, the Marland Mansion covered 43,561 square feet and included 10 bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, 7 fireplaces, and 3 kitchens. The cost of building was over 5 million dollars.
Freshman Ariel Howarth and sophomore Carley Knight, OCIA’s event coordinators, described their favorite aspects of the trip.
“My favorite part about the mansion was all of the intentional detail and craftsmanship in the entire place. I also loved all of the beautiful closets and mirrors,” Howarth said.
“Seeing the hand-painted and hand-carved columns and ceilings in the mansion was my favorite part. It was so cool to see these historic features replicated in this 1930’s building, which we don’t typically see in Oklahoma. Learning about the family’s history was fascinating since there were unfortunate marriages with large age gaps and weird relationships. I enjoyed walking through the house while keeping these things in mind so then I could see what they saw and think about why they chose to live how they did,” Knight said.
Many design features in the mansion are covered within the interior architecture history classes. As the club walked through spaces, terms were thrown out, and furniture as well as architectural features were excitedly chattered about. Several members of the club expressed their appreciation for the upperclassmen’s depth of knowledge.
“Rylee and Ella took us over to a chair and started explaining all the different elements of the chair. The back had a cupid’s bow motif, it was pierced, it had a ball and claw foot, and things like that. All on a single chair,” Kaliegh Strange said.
Ella Granger, a sophomore and the secretary of OCIA, explained her highlights.
“My favorite part of the mansion was the coffered ceilings in the ballroom I learned that Lydie’s story is so much deeper than just her time at the mansion, and the highlight of the trip was probably walking through the secret tunnel to the boat dock together and watching Rylee and Ariel swing dance down the hallway together to conquer their fears,” Granger said.
Who actually lived in the house? E.W. Marland remarried to Lydie, who was his niece through his first marriage and adopted daughter. They soon came to live at Marland Mansion after a 3-month honeymoon in Philadelphia. Sadly, Marland and his wife Lydie only lived in the mansion for a few years before being forced to move into a smaller art studio that was built on the estate. This move was caused by financial hardships that fell upon the couple and the loss of the oil company. Regretfully, Marland Mansion was sold for 66,000 dollars to the Carmelite Fathers in 1941. Decades later, it was ultimately bought by Ponca City in 1975 for 1.4 million dollars.
Admission to the Marland mansion varies, with students receiving discounts. While visitors to the mansion can do self-guided tours, guided tours are also offered throughout the week. It is also an open venue for weddings and other large events. More information can be found on the website: www.marlandmansion.com/information.
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