Air conditioning
In 1902, the first modern electrical air conditioning unit was invented by Willis Carrier in Buffalo, New York. After graduating from Cornell University, Carrier found a job at the Buffalo Forge Company. There, he began experimenting with air conditioning as a way to solve an application problem for the Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publishing Company in Brooklyn, New York. The first air conditioner, designed and built in Buffalo by Carrier, began working on 17 July 1902.
Robert Portner
By 1890, the Italianate house on the property had become too small for their family. He had the house moved and, working with prominent architect Gustav Friebus, Portner designed a new home that would combine elements of his favorite European mansions. Built between 1892 and 1894 at a cost of $150,000, Annaburg was a three-story, thirty-five room architectural gem, complete with indoor plumbing, electricity, and porches that wrapped around three sides. It also featured climate control system which combined two of Portner's brewery inventions, making it what is believed to be the first house in the country to have air-conditioning.