George Eastman House, Rochester NY- August 12, 2012

Sunday, August 12, 2012

George Eastman House, Rochester NY- August 12, 2012

This little blurb does not even begin to tell you about this extraordinary house. The curators have collected 85% of the original furnishings and restored the house thanks to thousands of pictures that George Eastman took during his lifetime. If you are in Rochester the house, museum and grounds are worth the visit. I have tried to note where the pictures were taken in the house and a few things that stuck in my mind while on the tour.

George Eastman (1854–1932) built his home at 900 East Avenue between 1902 and 1905. He created a unique urban estate complete with 10.5 acres (42,000 m²) of working farm land, formal gardens, greenhouses, stables, barns, pastures, and a 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m²), 50-room Colonial Revival mansion with a fireproof structure made of reinforced concrete.

Eastman's house presented a classical facade of decorative craftsmanship. Beneath this exterior were such modern conveniences as an electrical generator, an internal telephone system with 21 stations, a built-in vacuum cleaning system, a central clock network, an elevator, and a great pipe organ, which made the home itself an instrument, a center of the city's rich musical life from 1905 until Eastman's death in 1932.

The house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1966.^[2]^[13]

West Garden

Dining room

The Eastman house had Electric lights

George Eastman went on a safari when he was in his 60's and "bagged"
and elephant. The original one was been lost, this is an artists rendition of
the original from photo and records from the taxidermist.

this was a locked room where the silver was stored. The screen
was to hide the servant until he was needed.

Conservatory

Living room

Library

this couch sits on a raised platform in the billiard room. If ladies were
invited to join the gentlemen, they sat here. Ironically it also was where
the house central vacuum cleaner was stored