Vacation: Part 17 - Brucemore Estate.

(Courtesy of Wikipedia, except my comments in blue)
The Brucemore mansion in Cedar Rapids, currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a special place in CR; I have many happy memories of it while I lived in Iowa. My theater friend Jim Kern now runs the estate/trust.

The Queen Anne-style mansion, originally called, "Fairhome", was completed in 1886 and was occupied by the Sinclair family, who owned the largest business in Cedar Rapids - a meatpacking plant. Cost = $55,000. The home has three stories, and contains twenty-one rooms. Notable features of the home are its steeply gabled roof, five chimneys, and several turrets. The above photo is a south view of Brucemore.

George Bruce Douglas was a partner in his father's business, the Quaker Oats Company and lived at "Brucemore" - he renamed it - from 1906-1937. He increased the size of the property by 33 acres, and added several new buildings, including a guesthouse, greenhouse, carriage house, squash court, and servants' quarters. He also had the entrance moved to the south side. In 1925, Grant Wood ("American Gothic") designed a sleeping porch which was added to the house. in 1927, a swimming pool was added. After George and his wife passed away, they willed the home to their oldest daughter Margaret.

North view of Brucemore. Margaret Douglas married Howard Hall and they resided at Brucemore from 1937-1981, reducing the size of the estate to its current 26 acres. In two of their more unusual enhancements to the house, the Halls added two basement recreation rooms, "The Tahitian Room", and a "Grizzly Bar". The Tahitian room is designed to resemble a tropical island, including a faux hut roof, and a switch that can create artificial rain. The Grizzly room is decorated like a Wild West or Alaskan saloon.

By the way, I've toured Brucemore and seen both these rooms - the Tahitian room is near the top of the list of most preserved rooms in all of America as it was left EXACTLY the way it looked upon Howard Hall's death. The artificial rain effect is awesome.

The Halls had several pets kept on property including two German Shepherds and several birds. But their most famous pets were the three lions, all named Leo. Jackie, the lion that roars at the beginning of MGM movies, is related to one of the Leos. One of the lions, along with 20 dogs, are buried in the pet cemetery near the gardens. Margaret died in 1981. She willed Brucemore to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Above: The Grand Staircase, connecting the 2nd and 3rd floors - the architectural centerpiece of Brucemore.

Today, Brucemore serves as a museum and a cultural center for Cedar Rapids. Each year on Father's Day, an Art Festival takes place on the grounds, and Brucemore also hosts a yearly Jazz festival, "Bluesmore". Also every year, outdoor theatre is performed during "Classics at Brucemore", often a play by Shakespeare or a classic Greek tragedy. I miss this event as you could take coolers of wine and beer, cheese, crackers, and fruit and enjoy great theater outdoors.

For a visual tour of Brucemore, go to the offical site. I highly recommend it.

Brucemore has many connections to famous people and events. George Douglas' brother died on the Titanic, and Howard Hall had contacts with many famous celebrities. He took behind the scene home movies of Gone with the Wind, which are the only known candid footage of that film. The home has also played host to at least two Presidents, when Herbert Hoover and Harry Truman visited during the dedication of the Hoover Presidential Library in West Branch.

Tahitian Room, Grizzly Room and Grand Staircase pictures courtesy of Brucemore.org