The Chaffee Art Center building is a Queen Anne Victorian Mansion built by George Thrall Chaffee, a prominent Rutland businessman. Construction was started in 1892 and completed in 1895. The home was called “Sunny Gables” by the Chaffee Family. It features a variety of European and Middle Eastern architectural styles popular at the time amongst wealthy Americans who were fortunate enough to have traveled extensively. Its distinctive features include the Syrian arch front entrance, an exterior first floor foundation of machine-cut marble blocks, a three-story corner tower with gothic windows and an elegant porte-cochere. Sunny Gables’ interior boasts elaborate parquet floors, elegant moldings, trim cut from birds’ eye maple and tiger oak, and an asymmetrical floor plan typical of the Queen Anne style. It is interesting to note that the Chaffee’s were one of the first families in Rutland to enjoy central heating, gas lighting and indoor plumbing. The building provides an aesthetic experience equal to that of the art work it contains.