I, RICHARD ZIPF, HAVE DONATED AEOLIAN 1345 TO THE GEORGE EASTMAN HOUSE IN ROCHESTER, NY, to replace one of George Eastman's two Aeolian pipe organs, which was lost in a fire.

BRIEF HISTORY:

This pipe organ, Aeolian Opus 1345, was built by the Aeolian Company at their factory in Garwood, NJ.  It was installed in John Spreckels' mansion (now the Glorietta Bay Inn) in 1916 in Coronado, CA.  [John Spreckels was a pipe organ aficionado of the first magnitude; he donated pipe organs (which actively function to this day) to Balboa Park in San Diego and to the Palace of Legion of Honor in San Francisco.]

Ultimately the organ fell into disuse and was intended to be discarded.  It was saved by Edward Barr and Wendell Shoberg and stored for some years by Mr. Shoberg.

In the early 1980's I purchased the organ from Mr. Shoberg and transported it from storage sites in San Diego to my home in Carmichael, CA, where I spent the subsequent fifteen years restoring it. 

MY RESTORATION OF AEOLIAN 1345:

• within the chests I completely re-leathered all the mechanisms (pouches, pneumatics, valve facings) & repaired felt damage to the valves.  I re-leathered all the pouches in the coupler stack.
• I repaired considerable moisture damage and repainted the chests.
• I repaired, cleaned, and re-shellacked the pipes.
• I de-rusted and painted steel parts.
• I rebuilt and repainted the supporting structure and ducts.
• I installed a Devtronix MIDI interface to the organ (permits playing the organ by a computer sequencer).

I.e., I restored the organ to functional condition, attempting to do so in a manner which would maximize its future life span.

FILES OF INTEREST:

(to download, right click & select "Save Link As..." or "Save Target As...")

• The organ Stoplist, as formulated by Nelson Barden in Boston.
• The original purchase contract between the Aeolian Company and John Spreckels.
• Photos of this organ on the Organ Historical Society web site:  click here.
• A history of the rescue of the organ by Edward Barr (previous historian of San Diego’s Spreckels Organ Society) and by Wendell Shoberg (previous owner of the San Diego Pipe Organ Company, from whom I purchased the organ).
• Interesting Aeolian history emailed me by Nelson Barden explaining how purchasers of Aeolian organs often increased the size of their Aeolian purchase order (e.g., John Spreckels' purchase order was increased from two to three ranks).
• Copy of the April-May 2009 issue of Coronado Magazine, describing "rediscovery" of this organ.
• Copy of the March-April AMICA Bulletin cover article describing my restoration of Aeolian 1345.
• Three music CD's (.mp3 format) recorded of Aeolian 1345 playing from MIDI files which I created (apologies for the fact that the organ has not been tuned in quite a few years):
  • Aeolian 1345 Plays Classical
  • Aeolian 1345 Plays Popular
  • Aeolian 1345 Plays Christmas
• Video slideshows:
  • Remodeling my home to accommodate the organ
  • My restoration of Aeolian 1345
  • Aeolian 1345 Restored
  • Aeolian 1345 Plays Music