The landmark Smith Mansion on the highway from Cody to Yellowstone has been sold to a company that owns several lodging businesses in the area.
Mountain Lodging purchased the Smith Mansion, an unusual architectural piece built by hand by engineer Francis Lee Smith over 20 years.
Smith died in a fall from the building’s second story in 1992 and last year, his family decided to put the building on the market.
Scott Richard, the real estate agent for the deal, credited the building’s relatively quick sale with a special video his company made showcasing the mansion’s unusual aspects.
“We created a video that generated over 100,000 views and drew worldwide attention to it,” he said. “I was contacted by a lot of different people, some of them with crazy ideas, some for reality TV shows to rehab it, turn it into different things. But at the end of the day, it stayed right here in Cody with somebody that did appreciate the history behind this place.”
The new owner, Mountain Lodging, owns the neighboring Green Creek Inn and RV Park, as well as the Holiday Lodge in Cody.
Richard said Mountain Lodging officials are not sure how they will use the building.
“What I can tell you is that they do appreciate the history behind the structure,” he said.
“They’re going to keep it, nothing’s going to change right away. What they plan to do is still going to be part of that mystique, just like the structure.”
Richard said he couldn’t pass up the chance to be involved in the sale.
“I’ve seen this building my whole life,” he said. “I’m a fifth-generation Cody (resident) and as a kid I used to go up to the Wapiti Valley here and go skiing, sledding. And every time we would drive by this, I always knew we were halfway between Cody and Yellowstone.”
