Real Money
Jul. 3rd, 2012 10:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chris_gerribOver the weekend, I attended our Rotary district governor installation. This event was held at The Sanfilippo Foundation. As I said to several attendees, "if you have more money than you know what to do with, this is what you do."
The Sanfilippo family made their money selling nuts, and in the mid-1990s bought out the more well-known Fisher Nut company. At some point in this process, the family built a large estate on 50+ acres in Barrington, a (wealthy) northern suburb of Chicago. Starting in the mid-1970s, Jasper, then CEO and now current patriarch of the clan, started collecting antique music machines and other Edwardian mechanical antiques. In 1991, the collection had grown to the point that Jasper built a 40,000 sq. foot mansion to house all of this stuff.
Read that last sentence again. He built a mansion just for his collection! It's the kind of place where he told the architect "money is no object" and meant it. Just one example - there is a large formal staircase in the entranceway leading upstairs. The staircase has a custom-made carpet! He has the largest theatrical pipe organ ever built. Oh, and, in a separate building where we had dinner, he has a steam train (working, of course) and a large carousel.
For tax purposes, he's set up the house as a foundation, allowing him to write off the significant expenses, including full-time restorers and other staff. The museum is only open on special events, usually charity fundraisers. All in all, a really impressive place.
The Sanfilippo family made their money selling nuts, and in the mid-1990s bought out the more well-known Fisher Nut company. At some point in this process, the family built a large estate on 50+ acres in Barrington, a (wealthy) northern suburb of Chicago. Starting in the mid-1970s, Jasper, then CEO and now current patriarch of the clan, started collecting antique music machines and other Edwardian mechanical antiques. In 1991, the collection had grown to the point that Jasper built a 40,000 sq. foot mansion to house all of this stuff.
Read that last sentence again. He built a mansion just for his collection! It's the kind of place where he told the architect "money is no object" and meant it. Just one example - there is a large formal staircase in the entranceway leading upstairs. The staircase has a custom-made carpet! He has the largest theatrical pipe organ ever built. Oh, and, in a separate building where we had dinner, he has a steam train (working, of course) and a large carousel.
For tax purposes, he's set up the house as a foundation, allowing him to write off the significant expenses, including full-time restorers and other staff. The museum is only open on special events, usually charity fundraisers. All in all, a really impressive place.
