The Huntington

Henry Edwards Huntington was introduced to the railroad business by his uncle who was one of the owners of the Central Pacific Railroad.  Some twenty years later, he was managing the Southern Pacific Railroad and several other business operations and he purchased an estate in San Marino California and began to fill the home with his collections of books and art.  He retired from work at the age of 60 so that he and his wife Arabella could devote their full attention to their collections.

In this post, we will take a look inside what was once his home and take a peek at just a tiny fraction of the collectables that can be found inside.

Beautifully crafted furniture shares space with amazing works of art and breathtaking collections of porcelain.

This Wedgewood urn was particularly eye catching.

Arabella must have had a special attraction to fine porcelain because her collection included some of the most beautiful and unique pieces I've ever seen.  Above is a piece manufactured by Royal Porcelain Manufactory in Sevres France.  It's called Vase a Tetes de Bouc (Vase with Goat Heads).

The details on this gorgeous piece are remarkable and the soft colors of pink and blue and green are very attractive.

In 1919, the Huntingtons signed an indenture to leave their estate and collections to a non-profit educational trust creating The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens which now hosts over 500,000 visitors per year.

Next week I'll feature some of the art works in the Huntington collections.  It contains one of the world's most famous paintings.