WALNUT SHADE, Mo. (KY3) – Branson is known for its attractions.
But just up Highway 65, there’s another museum featuring a woman who’s in four Halls of Fame and has been featured twice at the Smithsonian.
In the rolling hills of northern Taney County, you’ll find a road with some unique, smiling faces lining the drive.
“Those are the Kewpie dolls,” Connie Pritchard, the president of the Bonniebrook Historical Society, said.
The Kewpies were the brainchildren of artist Rose O’Neill. Her Historic Bonniebrook Homestead sits on top of that Kewpie-lined road.
“Bonniebrook was always her respite,” Connie said.
The Booniebrook Homestead tells the rags-to-riches story of Rose, who was born in 1874 in Pennsylvania.
She won an art contest at the age of 13. Despite judges thinking a little girl couldn’t draw this on her own, she won a $5 gold coin.
“From the moment she won that $5 gold piece, she supported her family,” Connie said.
For a family that faced 14 evictions before Rose’s 20th birthday, art was a way out for them.
She became the first published female cartoonist in the United States. By the late 1800s, magazines were publishing her drawings.
“When Puck hired her, that was a man’s magazine,” Connie said, “and they said, ‘You know, we want to hire you, but you’re going to have to hide your identity.’ So, she really trailblazed for women.”
Shortly thereafter, the Kewpies came along. Her drawings became the first mass-produced toy.
She also used her name and talent to help the Women’s Suffrage movement.
By 1924, she was worth $1.4 million.
“(She was) the most sought-after and highest-paid illustrator of her time,” Connie said. “She illustrated for Jell-O for 14 years, Rock Isle Railroad for 10, and every other kind of product in between.”
Despite having an apartment in New York, a mansion in Connecticut, and a villa in Italy, Bonniebrook here in the Ozarks was home.
Today, a 10,000-square-foot visitors’ center houses a large Kewpie collection and her fine art museum.
“The Smithsonian owns two of her originals,” Connie added.
Click here to visit the Historic Bonniebrook Homestead Facebook page.
Behind the visitors’ center is a replica of her Bonniebrook home. The original burned down in 1947.
The three-story house was built using the original homes blueprints. You can see the sitting rooms, a music parlor, bedrooms, and an indoor bathroom that featured the first flushing toilet in Taney County.
For Connie, this is a property neighbors her grandfather’s.
“My grandfather’s sister, Callie Keithley, who was my great-aunt, she actually became a living caretaker. She and my great uncle worked for Rose for 12 years.”
Many of the items Rose gifted Connie’s great-aunt fill the home today.
“Fast forward to 2026, asked me if I thought I’d be here doing this? No,” Connie joked. “Should I have paid more attention to the family stories? Yes.”
By the late 1930s, Rose’s money was almost gone, and her last creation, the Ho-Ho doll, did not take off.
Rose died in 1944 and is buried just down a path from the home.
But today Bonniebrook Homestead is keeping her legacy alive. Thanks to funding, the home is undergoing a restoration to make sure her story can be shared for generations to come.
“What an inspiration she was,” Connie said. “You know, I know we have men walk in and think, ‘Oh, I’m at a doll museum.’ But they leave totally impressed.”
The Bonniebrook Homestead is near Walnut Shade. It sits just off the east side of US 65.
Here’s a list of upcoming events at Bonniebrook:
August 8 – Doll Sale from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
August 15 – Bluegrass Jam from 10 a.m. to noon
September 12 – Car show from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
September 19 – Bluegrass Jam from 10 a.m. to noon
October 10 – Craft Show from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
October 17 – Bluegrass Jam from 10 a.m. to noon
October 24 – Book Sale from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
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