Place de la Musique

Paul arranged for us to go on a special tour of "Place de la Musique," the estate of Jasper and Marian Sanfilippo in nearby Barrington Hills.


Upon entering, I was amazed by the stained glass dome above the foyer. It contains 20,000 pieces of glass and weighs 3,000 pounds!


I also enjoyed the huge collection of Tiffany lamps.


The Victorian Bar Room is a recreation of a turn-of-the-century casino, and features a 24 foot long back bar, rare slot machines and antique penny arcade machines.



His real passion, however, is instrument-playing music machines called orchestrions. We got to hear several of them, including this combination piano/violin. There are 4 violins, one for each string.



The centerpiece of the music room is the largest theater pipe organ in the world - 8,000 pipes!


In another building is the Eden Palais, a self-contained mobile amusement center, built in France in 1890.


Inside is a merry-go-round that features 36 beautifully hand-carved horses and 4 ornate gondolas.


This building also contains a full-size restored 1881 Grant Railroad locomotive.


With a beautiful handcrafted coach car.


And lots of other steam engines.


Here he is, the man himself. Jasper Sanfilippo owns one of the largest nut companies in the world. It's obvious from his home that he has two passions - musical and mechanical. We were all very grateful to be allowed the rare priviledge of viewing his collections.