George Eastman House: The Kodak inventor’s mansion & photography museum in Rochester, New York

George Eastman Museum, in Rochester, New York

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George Eastman (1854-1932) — the inventor of roll film, and who founded the Eastman Kodak Company in 1889 — built his home in Rochester, New York.

The 35,000-square-foot, 50-room Colonial Revival mansion was completed in 1905 after three years of construction.

The George Eastman House museum notes: “Mr 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 [one of which is shown below], 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.”

Here are some photos of the Eastman House, including a few snapshots of the many rooms at the home itself, taken in 2010.

George Eastman house - front

George Eastman Museum, in Rochester, New York
Photo by Carol Highsmith, via LOC
Side view - George Eastman Museum, in Rochester, New York
Photo by Carol Highsmith, via LOC
Garden wall of the George Eastman home
Garden wall of the George Eastman home/Photo by Carol Highsmith, via LOC

George Eastman & Thomas Edison at the George Eastman House in 1928

George Eastman (left) and Thomas Edison 1928
[George Eastman (left) and Thomas Edison with motion picture camera at Eastman’s house in Rochester, New York, where a demonstration of the new Kodacolor film was being held]
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Inside the home of the man behind Kodak’s success

George Eastman House - Kodak inventor mansion photography museum Rochester New York (3)

George Eastman House - Kodak inventor mansion photography museum Rochester New York (4)


The main hall/conservatory at the George Eastman House

The room was complete with a tusked elephant trophy

Eastman House conservatory photo courtesy Federal Highway Administration
Eastman House conservatory photo courtesy Federal Highway Administration

Eastman House - LIFE Feb 13, 1950

Elephant in conservatory at Eastman House museum - New York

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George Eastman House - Kodak inventor mansion photography museum Rochester New York (5)

George Eastman House - Kodak inventor mansion photography museum Rochester New York (1)

The Eastman House library

George Eastman House - Kodak inventor mansion photography museum Rochester New York (2)

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