As hundreds of visitors filed though the restored 19,000-square-foot renaissance revival-style mansion in downtown Sacramento on Sunday, Leland and Jane Stanford - or the folks who played them - sipped sodas and wondered aloud why so many friendly but oddly dressed people came to visit. When they weren't taking a break, the Stanfords, dressed in period costumes, greeted hundreds of the 10,000 people estimated to have visited the Leland Stanford Mansion over the weekend.

"It's going fantastic," said Catherine Taylor, regional supervisor of the state Department of Parks and Recreation system. "We have lots of happy guests today."

The Stanford Mansion, along with six of Sacramento's other historic museums, were open free to the public during the weekend. The state encouraged Californians to celebrate its admission (Sept. 9, 1850) to the union through three days of festivities billed as Eureka! Admission Day Weekend.

Leland Stanford, a merchant who would become one of the railroad tycoons known as the Big Four, became California's eighth governor in 1862.

The activities opened the refurbished museum in style. While other museums saw brisk attendance, the Stanford Mansion was the star. By 11 a.m. Sunday, a line at Eighth and N streets stretched more than 100 people deep. Inside, visitors shuffled though single file, but few said they were disappointed. Taylor said the experience will be different when guests can move though the home in groups of 10 to 15.

Working off photos of the home, the restoration staff worked overtime to put the house back together, in many cases placing rooms exactly as they were in the 1800s. Rooms were furnished with a blend of furniture original to the home, antiques and reproductions.

"It's beautiful. They did a great job restoring it," said Michelle Crunk, 26, of Sacramento. "It made you feel like you were stepping back in time."

The walls of the formal dining room are covered with paintings depicting "Native Grandeur," on loan from the Irvine Museum.

In addition to being a tourist attraction, the mansion serves as a venue for the governor and state Legislature. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently used the home to entertain the prime minister of India.

While waiting for their opportunity to tour the Stanford Mansion, some enjoyed the outdoor music and exhibits. As a handful of men and one couple listened to a volunteer from the Railroad Museum talk about the locomotive parked on N Street, a family poised for photographs. Meanwhile, a bright red and yellow wagon pulled by two white horses pulled up to the stoplight. Down the way, folks marveled at a replica of a Civil War-era hand-powered submarine. Inside the metal tube a man showed how the hand crank that turned the propeller worked.

Grima Wilhelmsen, 56, of Rocklin and her husband, Jon, happily examined other exhibits as they waited for their 5 p.m. appointment to visit the Stanford Mansion. As she looked at covered wagon car, she remarked how it took pioneers to get us from there to modern times.