George A. Schastey

Childhood

Schastey was born in Merseburg, Germany (then Prussia), and immigrated to Mew York with his family in 1849. He was apprenticed as an upholsterer, and served in the Civil War.

After the War he worked for a number of cabinetmakers, including the Herter Brothers. He opened a factory of his own in 1873. He created lavish interiors for the wealthy in New York as well and in San Francisco on Nob Hill. His clients included the "Big Four" railroad magnates, Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, Charles Crocker, and Huntington. He designed the William J. Graham House in Reno, Nevada.

Schastey's work is exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.