The Ellwanger Estate

It unique features…

Grand Hall

Vis­it­ing the Ell­wanger Estate is like look­ing through a kalei­do­scope at the 19th and 20th cen­turies. It is serene and pas­toral. The Ell­wanger Estate is nes­tled in its own country-like set­ting and is sur­rounded by grace­ful cop­per beeches, a majes­tic fern leaf beech tree. The stately Blue Spruce is one of the first brought to Rochester, New York from the state of Colorado.

The his­tor­i­cal reha­bil­i­ta­tion and restora­tion efforts reflect the love and care for fine crafts­man­ship and archi­tec­tural skills. Five fire­places exem­plify the Ellwanger’s Estate grand­ness, along with rich oak pan­el­ing, carved pil­lars in the Great Room and Grand Hall, and a glass enclosed conservatory.

The Grand Hall is dom­i­nated by a beau­ti­fully craved oak stair­case that reaches upward to a land­ing where an 1878 Hooks and Hast­ings pipe organ com­mands an impos­ing image. The fire­places, antique fur­ni­ture, col­lec­tion of books, piano are meant for use-not orna­ment. Estate guest are invited to enjoy the Great Room with its carved fire­place, grace­ful bay win­dow that over­looks the ever-changing pic­turesque land­scape and library cor­ner with its sur­round­ing book­cases, com­fort­able chairs and piano.

Grand Hall — Stairs

Guests enjoy break­fast­ing in the for­mal din­ing room enter­ing through either set of French doors. The view from the bay win­dows affords glimpses of wildlife to include deer, pheas­ants, rab­bits, squir­rels, and chip­munks that mean­der about the grounds. The glass-enclosed con­ser­va­tory with its south­ern expo­sure and the out­door patio are ideal for break­fast set­tings in the warmer months.

Each guest room is named after the Rochester Phil­har­monic Orches­tra (RPO) show house designer, and has its own cel­e­brated view, with its own dis­tinct per­son­al­ity reflected in its fur­nish­ings. The guest rooms are richly appointed with a mix­ture of new and antique fur­ni­ture, artis­tic wall cov­er­ings and murals, and imported draperies cov­er­ing the windows.

Din­ing Room

Color coor­di­nated lines, firm mat­tresses, com­fort­able sit­ting areas and large closet are stan­dards in each guest room.

The tran­quil pace at the Ell­wanger Estate cer­tainly pro­vides each guest with an oppor­tu­nity to sim­ply relax and recap­ture the feel­ing of an ear­lier era. Take time to stroll amidst the his­toric gar­dens, to expe­ri­ence the lifestyle of yes­ter­year. Treat your­self to a touch of sub­tle ele­gance and the ulti­mate in privacy.

Its loca­tion…

The Ell­wanger Estate is located in the heart of the Mount Hope Preser­va­tion Dis­trict, one block from the Gene­see River. It is within easy walk­ing dis­tance to High­land Park, the site of the world famous Lilac Fes­ti­val and the renowned Vic­to­rian Mount Hope Ceme­tery. Down­town and its major busi­ness are five min­utes away. Within a ten minute radius from the Ell­wanger Estate is the cul­tural dis­trict, restau­rant row, the air­port, Uni­ver­sity of Rochester, RIT, Strong Memo­r­ial and High­land Hos­pi­tal, and Mar­ket Place Mall. There is much to attract the Ell­wanger guest. The Ell­wanger Estate is truly a cel­e­bra­tion in all seasons.

Its his­tory…

The Estate began as a sim­ple farm­stead in 1837 under the own­er­ship of James Hawks. George Ell­wanger, the 19th cen­tury hor­ti­cul­tur­ist of the world renewed Ell­wanger and Barry nurs­eries, then pur­chased it in 1867. In late 1800’s, major archi­tec­tural changes were made to the farm­house under the direc­tion of Rochester’s renowned archi­tect A.J. Warner. Addi­tional changes in 1910 were under­taken by J. Fos­ter Warner, giv­ing the manor its present day Tudor style. It was also in 1867 that the his­tor­i­cal Ell­wanger Gar­den was planted. The gar­den lies on a gen­tle slope, south of the Estate, shielded from Mount Hope Avenue by a tall gray stonewall. Among the garden’s main fea­tures are heir­loom pear trees, peonies, box­wood edged paths, flow­er­ing ancient roses, scrubs and perennials.

West­ern New York Land­mark Soci­ety — ©Matthew D. Wil­son 2008

The entrance drive to the Estate fol­lows an ancient Indian Trail wind­ing from Lake Ontario to the Mis­sis­sippi Trail. As you enter the drive, your vision is greeted by the orig­i­nal car­riage house with it hand­some Pal­la­dian win­dows which over look the Ell­wanger Gar­den.

Helen Cress­well Ell­wanger, grand­daugh­ter to George Ell­wanger, a woman of vision and the beloved founder of the Land­mark Soci­ety of West­ern New York, bequeathed the Estate to the Land­mark Soci­ety in Decem­ber 1980. It was with the under­stand­ing that the grounds be used for the pro­mo­tion of inter­est in hor­ti­cul­ture and that the spec­i­men tress and gar­dens be pre­served in per­pe­tu­ity. On Decem­ber 30, 1983, the Estate trans­ferred hands for a third time and was opened as a Bed and Break­fast from 1983–1990. On Octo­ber 25, 2006, Rose­mary Janof­sky became the fourth fam­ily to own and reside on the Estate.