Buy a ticket at the potting shed and proceed to the house, entering under the porte-cochere. The reception hall has walls with oak wainscoting below and bronzed Lincrusta Walton wallpaper above. There are stained glass windows to the back left and a mahogany staircase straight ahead. Turn left and look at the reception room, with its pale beige walls and pipe organ. This was one of the places where Mrs. Mina Edison liked to hold tea parties. Next to it is the formal drawing room, the site of piano concerts and such events as daughter Madeleine's 1914 wedding and Thomas Edison's 1931 funeral. The drawing room and reception room both lead into the semi-circular conservatory, which was usually filled with potted palms.
Turn back into the reception hall, go left and you'll see the Pedder Library, the only room left as the original owner decorated it. Indeed, the room was filled with Pedder's books and was rarely used by anyone in the family. It did, however, house the guest book where famous visitors like Henry Ford, Charles Lindbergh, Helen Keller, the King of Siam and Maria Montessori would sign in. Directly opposite the front door and under the stairs is the entrance to the dining room, with Venetian-glass cabinets and a table that could seat 30.
Beyond the dining room is a den which was the principal downstairs family room. This is where the Christmas tree was set up. It served as a screening room and as the "stage" for the Edison children when they put on performances for adults sitting in the dining room. To the right (the north) of the dining room, going clockwise, are the pantry, kitchen, laundry and servants' dining room. There is a home laboratory north of the den, but that's not open to tours.
Go upstairs and on the east end of the hall you'll find the living room, built out over the porte-cochere. This is where the Edison family spent most of its time, reading and playing games. To the right of this, on the southeast corner of the house, is the master bedroom where Edison died and his three children by Mina were born. Mrs. Edison had a switch in this room that she could flip that heated her birdbath out on the lawn, providing birds with water in the winter. There are four other bedrooms on this floor. The third floor, attic and cellar levels are closed to tours.
Head outside and take a look at the barn, greenhouse and gardener's cottage, two-story cement garage and chauffeur's quarters, as well as the graves, behind the house of Thomas and Mina Edison.
