Bradford -- Dresser Garden

Dresser Mansion was the home of inventor and founder of Dresser Industries, Solomon R. Dresser. The lavish home was built in 1903 on Jackson Avenue in Bradford, Pennsylvania. Dresser hired Louis Kamper, the primary architect of the Michigan Buildings at the Pan American Exposition of 1901, to design his home with the E.N Unruh as the architect. When construction had finished it was estimated that home cost over $1,000,000 to complete. The mansion had twenty-eight rooms, including a ballroom, eleven bedrooms, reception hall, and eight bathrooms. Dresser was so pleased with his "modern palatial residence" that he had a small book entitled, "The Home of Solomon Dresser", filled with photographs and descriptions of the house and its furnishings, which he presented to his close friends. After his death in 1920, the family of Solomon Dresser stayed in the home until 1957, when it was donated and became the Dresser Memorial Presbyterian Home for the Aged. The Dresser Mansion was destroyed by a fire in February 1986. Persons associated include: Solomon Robert Dresser (former owner, 1903-1920), Louis Kamper (architect, 1902-1903); E.N. Unruh (architect, 1902-1903), Dresser Memorial Presbyterian Home for the Aged (former owner 1957-1986).