When Eastman Kodak Co. founder George Eastman was alive, his
East Avenue residence straddled the line between working farm
and urban estate. Horse stables and a poultry yard contrasted
numerous manicured gardens, including one that supplied the
mansion with cut flowers. Grapevines also interested Eastman,
and some planted around 1903 remain at the George Eastman House,
blanketing an arbor in the rock garden. Eastman probably chose
the native grape varieties – Delaware, Catawba and Concord –
that still embellish the arbor, says Eastman House landscape
curator Amy Kinsey. Patriotism might have played a role in
selecting the grapes, whose hues approximate red, white and
blue, Kinsey says. Delaware and Catawba are both red grape
varieties, but the latter typically ripens slowly, allowing it
to represent white in the design scheme. Concords are distinctly
bluish black when ripe. Yet Eastman’s grape choices could have
been because he “might have liked the way they looked in the
(fruit) bowl,” Kinsey says. Tulips ga