A Bedroom At Bowers Mansion

by Donna Kennedy

Title

A Bedroom At Bowers Mansion

Artist

Donna Kennedy

Medium

Photograph - Photographs

Description

Original Fine Art Photography by Donna Kennedy...

L.S. Sandy Bowers and his pyschic wife, Eilley Orrum, earned a fortune in their gold mine near Gold Hill, Nevada. They were Nevada's first Comstock millionaires. With their wealth they built a mansion in 1864 then traveled the world to furnish it. The mansion was restored in 1967, approximately 103 years later and to this day is one of the most impressive restored homes in Nevada. Tours are available on the weekends Summer and Autumn. This is one of the bedrooms in the Bowers Mansion in Washoe Valley, Nevada.
The draperies in this bedroom are all that's left of what Eilley originally purchased to decorate her home, they are shredded and torn in several places but considering they are over 145 years old they still look beautiful!
Here is some history of the Bowers Mansion from Wikipedia:
The Bowers Mansion, located between Reno and Carson City, Nevada, was built in 1863 by Lemuel "Sandy" Bowers and his wife, Eilley, and is a prime example of the homes built in Nevada by the new millionaires of the Comstock Lode mining boom. The land originally was purchased in 1856 by Eilley and her second husband Alex Cowan, who returned to Utah a year later with other Mormon settlers. Eilley secured a divorce and moved to Gold Hill where she ran a boarding house and later acquired the mining claim which, together with that belonging to her third husband Sandy, became the source of their fortune.
The mansion was the fulfillment of Eilley's dreams of prestige and respectability. The mansion, designed by J. Neely Johnson, a builder and ex-governor of California, combined Georgian Revival and Italianate architectural styles. It was modeled after a design conceived by Eilley based on her recollection of elegant buildings in her native Scotland. Indeed, the Bowers employed stonecutters from Scotland for the construction of their new home, which eventually cost $300,000 to build, an exorbitant sum in the 1860s. Eilley and Sandy toured Europe from 1861 to 1863, purchasing furniture, statuary, paintings and other adornments for their home.
Following the death of Sandy Bowers in 1868, Eilley fell on hard financial times. She generated income by renting out rooms in the mansion and hosting parties and picnics on the grounds. The mansion hosted a ball for the women's suffrage movement and was the location of the annual Miner's Ball. The period of 1873-1875 was the height of the mansion's popularity.
However, this was not enough to overcome Eilley's debts and she finally lost her home to foreclosure in 1876. The mansion was abandoned by the time Henry Riter acquired it and operated it as a resort until 1946. The building is currently owned and operated by the Washoe County Parks Department. Some 500 Nevada families have donated period furniture housed in the mansion. The park blends the historical site with recreational facilities such as a spring-fed swimming pool, picnic areas, and a playground.

Thank you to the following Groups that Featured this photo:
-Beauty
-Excellent Self-Taught Artisits
-Stop Time With Art
-Small Showroom
-MOUSE
-Memories and Nostalgia 1 per day
-Images That Excite You
-Artists Best Five Artwork

Uploaded

August 1st, 2013

Statistics

Viewed 559 Times  -  Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/16/2024 at 12:35 AM

Colors

Embed

Share

Sales Sheet

Tags