Rutherford House - Library and Dining Room   

The library was Mr. Rutherford's domain, and was often the room where he would choose to entertain his guests. A striking contrast to the brightly coloured parlour, the library is floor-to-ceiling fir bookshelves, currently home to nearly one thousand books. In 1915, university students were especially prone to borrow from Mr. Rutherford's collection because of a rumour concerning forgotten money (used as bookmarks) to be found between the pages of the books. Mr. Rutherford's collection of books reached its peak at over four thousand! Presently there are only 1000 books in the library. Many of the books from Mr. Rutherford's collection are currently in the university library named in his honour. 

The largest room in the house, the dining room with its rich, burgundy walls was the focal point of an evening of entertaining. Once it was announced that dinner was served, up to 16 guests would be seated at the dining room table. Following the etiquette of the time, a formal Edwardian dinner would have up to 11 courses and last for at least three hours. Mrs. Rutherford's dinner parties were well known to local Edmontonians as elegant and friendly affairs.