She was Luther’s helpmeet and muse during their marriage.
After his death, she remodeled the cottage, worked to preserve his legacy, went on speaking tours, and worked in the community, including helping to found the local chapter of the Humane Society.
On her own account, she collected tiles, stained glass and bottles. She was an avid and informed investor – reading the Wall Street Journal and discussing stocks with close family friends. She created her own close “family” and kept up ties with Luther’s brothers’ families in Marin.
Come learn more about this fascinating woman – Elizabeth Waters Burbank.
In response to interest on the part of our visitors, we are continuing the exhibit entitled “What Blooms In Our Garden.” It uses changing photos taken through the seasons, and includes a site map visitors can take with them to find the featured plants in their actual settings.
Visitors also can examine an unusual oversized photograph taken in 1915 when Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone came to see Luther Burbank in Santa Rosa — a day when some of the most famous people in the early 20th Century gathered here in this small California town! We’ve expanded this display to cover the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition, which was the occasion for Edison, Ford and Firestone to be in California.
The Carriage House Museum exhibits feature a variety of subjects, all with an underlying theme: Yesterday and Today at Luther Burbank Home & Gardens, where important things have been happening for more than a century!