wouldn't work as hard and balk for paying for the cameras and expensive things that go into making tv. i'm glad we have some intellectual property laws. that's our america. . >> a century old amusement park that could be lost forever. >> dying on the vine down here. >> our time is over. it's serious. >> a divided family on the verge of a painful split. >> no amusement park in the world has been owned by a family as long as this one. >> the family loyalty has disintegrated. it's fodder for disaster. >> and a reprieve from the governor, but will it be enough? >> the day after labor day amusement park is not open down there. my father is flipping in his grave right now.

. jamie: i'm jamie colby in ocean city maryland, an irresistible ocean resort town known for golden beaches and historic boardwalk. the population may read 7,000 but more than 8 million visits every single year, and i'm here to meet a family that has the "strange inheritance" that's been an icon on the boardwalk for more than a century. hi, doug. >> hi. jamie: i'm jamie. >> nice to meet you. jamie: so nice to see you, too. your family is so well known. >> we've been here a long time. jamie: a long time indeed. since 1890 to be exact. doug trimper's great grandparents, daniel and margaret trimper purchased two city blocks of ocean front

land. they start with a pair of small hotels but in 1902 decide to risk everything on a new attraction. daniel wants to bring in a ride unlike any seen before in maryland. he orders a massive carousel from the hershel-spillman company with a diameter of 51 feet, the merry-go-round is one of the largest built up to that point. >> how special is the carousel? >> pretty unique. there's 48 hand carved animals with horse hair tails, and has oil paintings around the top. just not the sort of thing that's made anymore. jamie: the carousel is originally powered by a steam engine, and rides cost a nickel. but those nickels add up! daniel trimper dies in 1929, he leaves ownership of a thriving operation to his seven children, and they pass it onto theirs. under the third generation of

trimpers, the park enters its golden era with the leadership of daniel trimper iii and doug's father granville. >> my father, all he wanted to do is run the amusement park. he was the youngest person in the planet's history to own and operate a ferris wheel. jamie: starting in the 1960s, granville upgrades the park's rides in upscale and steam. in 1964, the commissions of former ringling brothers art director to build a haunted house. granville later opens the trimper's wheels of yesterday attraction a fleet of vintage cars that includes a 1914 overland driven by the tv and movie comic jack benny. in the 1980s he restores the famous carousel and erects the park's first roller coaster. >> he had big ideas for the amusement park. that was his dream. the man was crazy about amusement rides. jamie: over the next decade profits keep climbing but the park's success is an exception

to the rule within the industry amusement park historian tells me since the 1960s family run operations like the trimpers have become a dying breed. >> both interstate highways and the shift to corporate theme parks a lot of the family owned parks fet by the wayside. >> what does a family-owned amusement park do with the competition? >> you have to know your place in the market. jamie: trading on rich history and tradition. >> no amusement park in the world has been owned by a family as long as this one. jamie: in the world? >> in the world. these are rides around for generations and people come for generations. >> nostalgia must compete with thrill rides at bigger parks, trimper's attendance tumbles at the turn of the 20th

century a challenge arrives in the form of another ride. the real estate boom. >> 15 amusement parks closed on the seashore because the value of the land outstripped the value of the business. jamie: ocean front amusement parks are selling out for big paydays. coney island, panama city miracle strip goes dark in a $15 million deal. >> it's tough to say no to something like that. jamie: granville in his late 70s and still park president has zero trouble saying no. he'd much rather hold on tight to his family's boardwalk empire than cash in his tickets, and doug is a chip off the cold block. >> making people happy, and the thing my dad liked the most about his job was sitting on the bench every night watching people be happy. jamie: but after five generations more and more

trimpers share a slice of the pie and some family members no longer feel the amusement park magic. we spoke with one shareholder who wished not to be named who told us owners feel the business no longer makes sense and thing the time's come to sell. joe harrison one of the trimper family attorneys says this divide is a common theme among family businesses. >> trying to keep a business in a family for a long period of time is very difficult. family loyalties just tend to get disintegrated. it's just a pattern for disaster. jamie: ownership of trimpers is split among 7 families with a total of 22 stakeholders. two of the families are becoming increasingly vocal about wanting to sell the park to cash in on the real estate boom. >> how hard is to to have to deal with a family member who is only saying show me the money or else? >> it was probably the only thing in my father's life that

really caused him real anguish. jamie: in 2007 the majority of the trimpers family board of directors want to keep the park open and find themselves backed into a corner. that's because the beach front development boom causes the park's property taxes to skyrocket. >> the new property tax assessments came out and i was like oh, my god. what's happened here? our property taxes increased $500,000 at once. our annual profit generally ran at that time around $300,000. so it was -- jamie: those numbers don't work? >> they don't workata all. jamie: that must have been sad for your dad. >> nobody wants to be the trimper to close the park. he said it wasn't going to be him and he didn't have any more answers. jamie: granville and doug know they better come up with answers if the century old amusement park is going to make it. >> you have any idea how many children you have to spin in a circle to pay a million dollars

of taxes alone? jamie: that's next. but first our "strange inheritance" quiz question --

>> now the answer to our

"strange inheritance" quiz question -- carousels were built to train young men to use their weapons while riding. jamie: in 2007, father and son granville and doug trimper are scrambling to keep the family's centuries old amusement park open in maryland. the development boom has caused the property taxes to soar. making it impossible to stay in business. >> there's only a level of government spending that is sustainable by businesses before the businesses have no more to give. jamie: the tax hike ups the pressure from trimper family members who think it's finally time to get out of the amusement business and sell their valuable beach front land. >> i don't get it doug, you sell off the amusement business and build condos and a shopping

mall here, you're going to make 10, 20 maybe 50 times more money. >> are. >> well i believe that. my whole family has always been in this business tucker was a legacy that's -- we all feel an obligation to try and do our part to continue. jamie: what then about selling some of its attractions like the wheels of yesterday, or even that vintage 1902 carousel to make way for new thrill rides. jim whose written a series of books on amusement parks says some have done that. tell meet value of the park like this? >> irreplaceable rides the antique carousel, the haunted house, you don't find anymore they're living pieces of history. in the 1980s they took off as a collectible and you saw parks that were struggling. see that is a way to raise quick cash. jamie: collectors have always

been especially interested in the ride that put trimpers on the map. >> oh, my goodness! >> only two dozen hershel-spillman carousels are spinning today, and five include a unique menagerie like the trimper. >> what is wonderful about the rides is each one was carved by a person. so there's blood, sweat and tears in each one of the animals. jamie: what's this? >> this is a hippocampus. jamie: a what? >> a hippocampus, a sea monster. jamie: is it more valuable because it's so rare? >> i've only known about one or two to be auctioned off. it can go six figures. jamie: six figures? >> at the peak of the collecting craze. jamie: in the end, selling the carousel would be giving up on the trimper's family legacy and granville refuses to do that just yet but he does realize change is needed. and so granville, who had been the heart and soul of the

trimper operation since the 1960s puts doug at the controls. >> my dad was getting on in years and ill at the time this happened. i was the next in line to do it so just started doing what had to be done in order to try and survive. jamie: doug's first step towards survival with the help of attorney joe harrison doug appeals the parks land value assessment, which was based on sky high property sales prior to the national real estate crash. >> it was my job to go ahead and show them that the numbers that they had were just out of whack, and that environment at the time. jamie: doug meanwhile takes his fight to the public writing letters to local newspapers and politicians. >> have you any idea how many children you have to spin in a circle to pay a million dollars of taxes alone? just how much can anybody bear? people say you ought to put condominiums down there.

no. we want to run an amusement park. the new county park tax assessments came out. they sealed the deal for us our time is over. jamie: our time is over. that's serious. the public response is overwhelming. politicians across the state jump on the save trimpers campaign. even maryland governor martin o'malley tours the park and puts the trimper's land appeal on a fast track. the state assembly goes a step further taking up a bill that could provide additional relief. will the tax relief come? more importantly, if it does will the trimpers take it? a surprising answer next on "strange inheritance." here's another quiz question for you --

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>> now the answer to our quiz question. the park opened in 1583. jamie: in 2007 doug trimper is fighting to save his family century old amusement park, soaring property taxes are threatening to bankrupt the business, unless doug can get the taxes reduced. family's board of directors may vote to sell the park. >> those were scary times, dying on the vine down here. jamie: die on the vine it had reached that point? >> yes, it has. jamie: in march of 2008,

success! doug and his lawyer get taxes rolled back to 2004 levels plus about a 4% increase. you set a really great example for people not to take no for an answer. well, you can't always save your business but people in this country have to fight back a little bit at government. it has become so big and controlling. jamie: government control is the problem doug sees with the maryland state assembly bill, that would allow the trimpers to operate as an historic amusement zone. that would lower their taxes further but also lessen their ability to run the business independently. so doug turns the offer down, saying he never wanted special treatment from the government. why not get every penny you're entitled to? >> we never believed much in entitlements. we just want to be part of community do our share, and be treated fairly.

jamie: but in october 2008 comes another setback. at the age of 79, doug's father granville trimper dies after a battle with prostate cancer. the fight for the park's future must continue without its most persuasive advocate. doug realizes his father's death could mark a tipping point. when he died, did he leave a will? >> he certainly did. jamie: what did he want to happen to the park? >> he wanted to continue that. jamie: with each generation, park ownership is further diluted. according to one major shareholder who wished to remain anonymous, some family members would still rather cash out and continue the challenging amusement business. >> there's a feeling by a portion of the corporation that they still need do that so they can cash out and have the money for their own lives.

jamie: they're not the only ones demanding cash. doug must finally sell off a piece of his father's legacy, the classic car museum. how difficult was that? >> real difficult. you were glad because you needed the money for the estate taxes, but sad to see part of him going out the door you know? it was very emotional. jamie: the 2008 financial crisis which hit shortly after granville's death is causing panic around the world, and more anxiety on the boardwalk. if you're sitting on millions' worth of real estate do you sell or do you hold? what's your price that you could not refuse to sell the park? ten times more money than taking home a year doesn't mean that much to you? push your enterprise and you can move the world. but to get from the old way to the new you'll need the right it infrastructure. from a partner who knows how to make your

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. jamie: in the midst of the 2008 financial crisis, a driving

force behind the trimper's amusement park granville trimper died. passing along ownership to his heirs. for now doug trimper gets to keep running the strange inheritance. according to doug some family members are eager to cash out. >> how often do you hear from that other side of the family? >> we have an annual meeting and there's still quite an effort to get us to sell the park. jamie: do they really understand how important it is to you to maintain the legacy that your father or your grandfather, your great grandfather started? >> they really don't, and they can't because they weren't here they weren't a part of it. jamie: what's your answer to them? >> we're sorry but we're not ready to give this up. jamie: what's your price that you could not refuse to sell the park? ten times more money than you're taking home a year doesn't mean that much to you? >> not to me. we could have sold out quite

awhile as go and all had money but it's not what we want to do. we love this business. jamie: it's memorial day the official kickoff of the season here on the ocean city boardwalk. and thanks to doug, yet another generation of parkgoers get to enjoy the classic amusements and rides. but the battle for the park's survival never really ends. now entering the fray is the next generation of trimpers including doug's sons chris and brooks. like their grandfather granville, they vowed that they won't be the trimpers who close the park. >> i believe getting our business to the sixth and seventh and eighth and ninth generation is our challenge. >> it's going to be a long road ahead of us. but i'd rather be on that road than somewhere else. jamie: hello trimpers!

they'll know they've risen to that challenge so long as they can keep the grand old carousel installed by their great-great grandfather running. >> i think it's time i went for a ride. >> absolutely. jamie: i like this one, doug. >> it's all yours. jamie: go on side saddle. all right, brooks hit it! my first carousel ride in 20 years. >> i think it's about time, don't you? >> i do too! why do i feel ten again? >> this place will do it to you. jamie: as i ride the carousel i cannot help by marvel i'm spinning in the same circle where kids have spun for more than 100 years before great depression and two world wars even before the birth of flight, it's also hard not to feel gratitude to the generations of trimpers who have seen this amusement park not just as a family business but as a public trust.

in a sense they've allowed their strange inheritance to be our strange inheritance too. granville trimper made it his business to service this carousel every single day. he was a man of tradition. but his legacy almost never was. the carnival kid and high school valedictorian earned a scholarship to the university in paris, a much high-powered career in engineering or management calling. but granville turned it down. he was so much more comfortable in his greasy overalls fixing the rides than in a suit and tie. so this family-run amusement park lives on and goes strong into its second century leaving five generations of trimpers with a heck of a ride! i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance" thank you for

joining us and remember, you can't take it with you. do you have a "strange inheritance" story you'd like to share with us? we'd love to hear it! send me an e-mail or go to our website -- [laughter] that will do. see you tomorrow. >> a world record car collection. >> he just kept going. he never stopped. >> i believe his goal was to have one of every car ever made. >> a maverick driven to leave a mark. >> he went to the auction, bought the whole lot. >> his family promises to carry out his grand plan. >> i think there was a feeling of dread, relief excitement, and enthusiasm. >> love it. love the hair flowing. the top down. >> but can they fulfill the patriot patriarchs dying wish? >> you don't want that

car oil on your hand. >> i'm jamie colby. today i'm driving outside tacoma, washington, on the way to meet the hares of heirs of a man who started with nothing. he left his heirs enormous wealth, but also an overwhelming task. >> i'm doug lemay. my father earl lemay passed away in 2000 2000 is and left us with a full-time collection. >> his father lived here for more than two decades. he now lives and works here. >> hey doug. >> hi, jamie. glad you could come. >> i'm so happy to be here. is this a house or garage? >> well, it's a five-bedroom house with

with -- >> as doug shows me around, it's easy to see this isn't just a home but a reflection of his father's passion for the automobile. >> i mean, doug, i have to be honest, i've been to car shows that haven't had this many cars. >> dad did it for a long time. >> everywhere you looked, there's a collector car. what's your dream ride? a 1930 cadillac 452 convertible? a 1961 metropolitan? it's probably here. somewhere. there are even rooms completely filled with the same model or manufacturer. jamie: these are all pack packards? >> yes. this whole row. >> am i allowed to touch? >> have a seat if you want. >> you don't have to ask me twice. oh, my goodness, look at the steering wheel. it has my name written all over.

so many do. lemay'slemay's fascination with cars started before he could reach the metal. nancy is harold's widow. >> his mother said he loved anything with wheels. >> harold is born in 1919 to a single mother struggling to make a living and care for three young children. when harold is just three, maria feels she has no choice, but to place harold in the custody of friends who can better take care of him. when the couple comes to pick up harold, they're driving a chevy. >> harold was apprehensive. he's only three. hadn't met these people before. he described, this portly man behind the wheel said harold, you need to sit on my lap and you can drive the car home. >> little harold puts his hands on the wheels of that chevy.

feeling a life-long love affair with the automobile. after driving a truck in world war ii, harold returns home and builds up a garbage and scrap collecting business. it may not be glamorous trash proves to be very profitable. >> how successful was his business? >> very successful. jamie: lemay enterprises eventually groses to be the tenth largest trash removal in america. annual revenues topping $1 million. in 1963, harold marries nancy. a few years later, he has another life changing moment. >> a friend of his was in the monte club. that would be just the thing for him to get into. >> once he joins the club a lightbulb goes off. harold wants to collect classic cars. he begins with american models. mostly chevys and fords.

>> how did he find these cars? >> he would find them himself. >> by the 1970s, harold revs us. as his grandson says so did his wish list. >> it didn't matter where in the country the car was. he would say, you want to go for a drive. then you're crossing from oregon to california. >> as his passion grows harold buys any car nearly he comes across. >> grandpa never called himself a car collector. he was a car saver. he saved cars. >> harold couldn't stand to see a car crushed crushed. >> he bought the whole wrecking house in idaho. >> harold's collection of cars totaled into the thousands. >> he just kept going. he never stopped. >> you never said, honey, enough already. we could use that money for a vacation?

>> no. but when we went on vacation, it was always for a car somewhere on the route. >> as harold's fleet expands, he runs out of room in a a 300 car garage. >> he would buy houses to use the garage. rent the house, not the garage. >> he buys this 87-acre former catholic school called marymount. we'll circle back here. >> how many conversations did you have with harold about what should happen to the collection when he passed? >> he never go to about thought about pass at all? >> his heirs are thinking about the huge challenge rumbling towards them once harold is gone. >> you have to decide with your life, what will you do with the stuff?

that's a confrontational thing. you have to have a plan. it's a burden on everyone else. >> harold makes that plan. plus the one car he really wants but never gets. >> and now our "strange inheritance" quiz question. what was the first official white house car? was it an 1899 packard? a 1990 for taft. or 1929 cadillac for hoover in the an super poligrip holds your dentures tightly in place so you never have to hold back. laugh loud, live loud, super poligrip.

♪ >> so what was the first official white house car? it's the that businessmanbusiness

>> yeah, he had made the decision through my grandmother that they were going to create a museum. >> that's right. a museum. just for harold's cars. the family starts by requesting land from the city of tacoma. but before officials will award the property, they ask harold for an initial donation of at least 300 cars to get the project going. >> 10% of the collection. is that hard for him? >> i think it almost killed him. he had this document that he had to put his signature on, saying that he wasn't going to own this stuff at some point. and i can remember his hands shaking. he kind of took a deep breath. he handed me the piece of paper

and stormed off back towards home. >> on november 4th 2000, after a massive heart attack, harold dies at the age of 81. his heirs inherit his grand car collection and even grander dream of a museum to house it. >> i think there is a feeling of dread, relief, and excitement. >> how many cars are there and what are they worth? the family calls in larry baton in charlottesville, virginia. >> it was a massive operation. the cars were in 52 different locations. his filing system was a 32-gallon trash bag. he never had any intention of selling or marketing a vehicle. we worked 12 hours a day, six days a week. >> the team uncovers countless

classic cars only harold knew he had. >> we would open a door that hadn't been opened in decades. it would be full of cars that had been there for years. covered with flower, like snow inside a building. there were bumblebee fords. pizaros. cars that were so unique. in all, 2,973 cars. not including the countless half wrecked hulk. >> he wanted one of every car ever made. >> larry is not allowed to say what the whole collection is worth. they peg it at $100 million at the time of harold's death. with the inventory complete the family tries to realize a car museum. it hits roadblocks.

>> creating a museum is like watching sausage getting made. it's really ugly and hard. >> they'rethey're not the only ones with car trouble. >> come on. get me a car that works. >> that's next. >> here's another quiz question. which classic american sports car came first? is it the chevy coveret? ford thunderbird or dodge running my own shop has been brutal. but then i got a domain and built my website all at godaddy. now i look so professional i just got my first customer who isn't related to me. get a domain website and email

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>> so which classic american sports car came first? it's a the chevy corvette from its introduction in 1953. chevy produced 1.5 million of them. jamie: in the early 2000s

harold's family is struggling to honor his dying wish the creation of a museum where its entire 3000-plus car collection can be on public supply. one thatdisplay. one that will be there is the model t. i meet for a driving lesson. step one, hand crank the car to start it. >> what do you think? >> i think you're up to it. give it a good crank. not quite. >> ouch. [laughter] wait. is this a trick? oh, come on. get me a car that works. >> there you go. >> hey. all right. there you go. >> right on. >> the model t is considered the first

affordable automobile, but it's not particularly easy to drive. it has three pedals, but the brake is on the right. what's it doing there? jamie: you did clear the trees today? >> and the sidewalk. jamie: as we scoot around, it's easy to see why harold fell in love with this classic. i love it. feel the hair blowing the top down. >> there's a big tree. big tree. jamie: brake. brake. brake. okay. brake. oh, that's forward. wait. brake. oh yeah, that thing on the right, throttle up. oh, my gosh. perfect. not a scratch. but a collision is in store for the lemay family as it tries to get its museum and to drive. >> you need a building. fund-raising all the next steps. >> the family donates 600 cars to the project and $15 million too, but

it's not enough. so they hire a fundraiser who tells them they have to have corporate sponsors for more big bucks. that will mean the lemays are told they will have to sacrifice their control and vision for the museum. the family agrees, but soon find themselves two on a board of 30. >> on the one hand, you want to see the legacy restored. on the other hand, you can't have the control once it's in the museum. >> the museum adds cars from other collections to attract national attention. then fund-raising runs tight. the board tells the family they don't have the budget to preserve all of harold's cars. many of the ones he donated, they say, are redundant. they decide on a step that harold lemay would have never considered. sell some of his cars. >> if you could have controlled that situation.

would you have asked them to sell other cars? i don't sell many cars. jamie: in fact harold had only sold three collector cars in his lifetime. family members are dismayed. >> none of us wanted to be the one that says we split all the stuff up. you don't want that car oil on your hands. >> if you didn't want them why ask for them. it seems like they wanted to sell them. >> the museum auctions 145 of harold's autos. their estimated value well into the millions. his packard sells for 113k. his 1936 rolls-royce goes for more than 65 grand. the funds do their part to help the museum keep going. when the sleek looking building finally opens in 2012, its name has been changed from the

harold lemay museum to lemay american museum. that reflects the shift in focus from harold lemay to cars from other donors as well. that's discouraging to harold's heirs because his wish was for a museum for just his collection. the family believes there's still a chance to keep his vision alive. >> what is this place? would you believe a second museum just minutes down the

>> now, back to "strange inheritance." jamie: harold lemay's family continues to face the dilemma of how to honor his legacy. a chunk of harold's huge car collection has been sold off. a museum in tacoma washington originally meant to be solely devoted to harold has a different mission. then a solution. the family decides to

refit that school property that harold purchased in the mid-1990s. eric what is this place? >> this is the other part of the equation that was our family learning how to save the world's largest car collection. this is mary marymount. it's an event center. a museum. >> your museum? >> yeah. we wanted another museum that was about the lemay family and our taste in collecting. we may be only 6 miles apart, but we're very different culturally from each other. they consider marymount the down to earth little brother. the sleek modern museum. it's the dirty finger version that celebrates harold's cars and nobody elses. it depends on the hard work of eric. everyone from the tour guide to the director is

a volunteer. are you in the black or in the red? >> at some point, and it's not that far away this will be a self-sustaining business. it looks really like it's going to be healthy for a long, long time. ♪ jamie: before i leave there's one last car eric tells me i need to see. >> it's a 1948 tucker. >> wait a minute, harold wanted a tucker he never got it. >> my grandmother bought it after he died. a group of our family went to an auction and grandma bought the tucker that he couldn't have before he passed away. >> unbelievable. so he left but you knew it was that important to have? >> we knew it was that important. jamie: what would harold say? >> he would love it. i think if grandpa were to look at how hard we've tried to do what he was hoping we'd do, i think he'd be really

proud of it. it took a whole community. it took a lot of volunteers. it took a family that never got off track with each other. that's his legacy, basically. ♪ jamie: one last harold lemay story, back in the '80s at a garbage vacation in chicago he caught wind of a 9014 1914 baby grand chevy. the day he said goodbye to his mom he road in it. harold bought it on the spot and loaded it in the back of his fancy garbage truck that he purchased at that trade show. he and nancy hauled that chevy back to tacoma. there it sits to this day. he never let it go. i'm jamie colby. thanks so much for watching "strange inheritance."

and, remember, you can't take it with you. do you have a "strange inheritance" story you'd like to share with us? we'd love to hear it. send me an email or go to our website. "strange >> go real-estate mogul ahead of his time. >> they jumped on a. and when he is gone there isn't for the surprise of a lifetime.

jamie: i am jamie colby. in tucson arizona to meet the family of a man who's spent his entire life building homes the lead to a massive collection for furniture i was married to edward bennett he left as an inheritance that had collectors around the world knocking. she is his third wife the last of eight homes that they shared until his death in 2013. and 33 years of the blended family.

jamie: tell me about edmund. he was a very complex man. board in late 1920 washington d.c. serving in both world war ii and career. by 1953 he is ready for peacetime endeavors -- takes a job at the state department. making there'll contribution to the baby boom, he buys to lots in washington with plans to build a home on one and still the other. >> hopefully there be enough money and the same thing happens. >> actually was five houses before the family got to move into a larger house. >> said of the bureaucrat edmund bennett has a new career as a real-estate developer.

>> a 300-acre division. >> you is very aware to preserve the natural habitat to make it unique. >> to have complete control of the project no metal fences no outdoor clotheslines. if you don't like it don't buy the house. >> there is always a vision of what he wanted. it was difficult to understand those in his immediate circle might have his own vision. >> what is it like to live with a man like that? >> not called. whenever differences we had to learn how to negotiate. sometimes it was at the top of ever longs.

jamie: he wants something that has though well factor viet matches his zero naturalistic design philosophy. his search leads him to the studio of the woodworker named george. >> george was known for taking naturally felt would -- wood to create works for that specific piece of wood. jamie: george's story oddly parallels bennett's. board in washington state eagerness and architecture degree from m.i.t.. 1942 just as then it is being inducted into the army george and his wife and young daughter to her with 110,000 japanese americans forcibly relocated in the japanese camp. he meets a master woodworker who crafts him to have

beautiful furniture with japanese hand tools. after the war george bell's a workshop in pennsylvania where he uses the century old techniques to create modern masterpieces. every tree has its destiny. >> a loving the wood to speak for itself by trying to repeal the beauty in the wooded area and part of that is as beautiful natural edge which is characteristic of the work. jamie: to better understand that modernism i turned to a contemporary craftsmen deeply influenced by george. >> of a but to help you make the table. >> to get started takes a chisel and very light little taps. jamie: i know what it means to give a tree a second life through this technique.

i am doing a good job. >> pc why bennett is dazzled when he first steps into george's studio in 1963. his workshop is coming with furniture and dozens of pieces including lawn chairs, benches, headboards and commission al lamp for as little as $110. >> it quickly became a marriage made in heaven and they recognized in each other a tremendous appreciation for design. jamie: that marriages memorialized between the two men. and george personally check selfie installation including the $350 will case when he visits the development. >> it was a bonus for george because it was a showplace for his furniture as well as being a bonus for end to

have people, see the committee. >> began to it seems it is so bitter. >> and then sells out for real estate and banking and then hangs on to the furniture over the next 40 years t-bills every one of his homes with it. >> did you let your kids play? >> they played, they don't, they peaked, they would come in from the swimming pool to sit on it. >> george achieved superstar status in 1973 when you're governor rockefeller commissioned 200 pieces like

these for his mansion in westchester. his reputation and keeps growing even after his death in 1990. jamie: in 2014 half a century after bennett's first visit george's workshop is designated a national landmark. the developer and a woodworker, two men had of their time. >> 4500 on the internet? >> just how far? and his bentley is about to find out. >> it is one of the lots from the bennett family. >> next.

jamie: for half a century real estate developer ed bennett build his home with quirky furniture from national craftsmen george,

and to of ens children grow around this stuff with the tables and chairs and the bench all crafted by george. one piece in particular embodied the close on shared by the children. >> my favorite piece by far was the dining room table. >> we would gather round the table and it turned out that it was blended quite well. >> the black walnut tree given the second life by george and he cherishes and for the rest of his. >> is the center of the family there were ford generations at that table. >> it seems like there's another person another chair that there. jamie: march 2013 the family

gathered around it for of neil. said is 93 and seriously ill. >> sitting at the head of the table where he always sits. we didn't know for sure it would be his last one but it was. >> two years later edmund then it dies. jamie: it is so kind to share. >> his will provides generously ford ibm but he leaves a large collection to his four biological children. what they don't inherit is is almost obsessive love for it. >> we all talked first does anybody want to keep any of the pieces? >> it was an easy decision we could not all keep the furniture. >> they decided to sell but how? where and how much? that is when an

ex-girlfriend and bruce and and often the extra chair at the table offers to help. >> i am the huge antiquing and bennett fan and so was a match made. >> she is always showed tremendous interest and as a family friend has stayed close. jamie: director in a marketing firm wants to get an estimate for the value of the collection and she takes this lamp to a professional appraisal. >> i called elizabeth she called me and i could hardly breathe. do you know, how much this is? i said no. >> $10,000. >> if a single lamp is worth $10,000 then they must be sitting on a small fortune. >> the excitement builds

from there. >> $20,000 is the visit. jamie: next. "strange inheritance".

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of furniture by george like lamps and a rocking chair and a dining room set beloved by four generations of the family. it has been half a century since bennett first walked into george's workshop and he installed his work in the model home. george you died in 1980 has become one of the most iconic and collectible american designers. still then its heirs are not interested to keep their strange inheritance so they decide to sell the collection three los angeles company, bell a modern options a perfect excuse to pay a visit to the owner. jamie: is is george's peace?

in a round table and around mckeon studied and collected george's furniture almost 30 years. >> the first george peace that i bought i may have been 18 or 19. it was still consider used furniture. jamie: once the auction date is set they ship the collection to los angeles. >> do you have a reaction when you saw it packed up? >> we had the last family dinner and we sat around the table and talked about edmond and we all held hands and said a prayer of thanksgiving at the table and for edmonton and would hope the next family that have the tables have as the pleasures that we had with it. jamie: as the big day approaches diane and the children fly to los angeles

and of course, pam is there also. >> i would not have missed being at that actions -- auction for the world's. >> we said we would sit on our hands not to buy another piece. >> we were all nervous. >> i take out my phone to film. >> the first piece is the wall piece he bought in 1963 as debating it is now worth between 20 and $30,000. couldn't really go for that much? >> we were speechless. when a moment spontaneously turns romantic why pause to take a pill? and why stop what you're doing to find a bathroom? cialis for daily use, is the only daily tablet

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jamie: february 23, 2014. >> one of the lots. >> what shade with agitation as the bidding begins on his modern furniture. the first piece up way back whether from the model home and bidding begins at $20,000. >> is it just us. it goes up and another bid comes. on line comes in and and he would say wait then somebody would pick it up. >> i am sitting next to my son slapping his leg. matthew. matthew. matthew. the next thing you knew it is far above the of high estimate.

pam and i are like this. [laughter] the hammer price was $53,200,500 and that was crazy. jamie: almost twice thought i estimate and 150 times what he paid for it in the '60s. >> george couch 4500 on the internet. >> the first piece sets off a frenzy. >> headboard from the family commission. >> the bench? $32,200,500 for the sliding door cabinet, 16,000. the bench $14,000. though lamp that was appraised goes to the l.a. county museum of art $12,000. and the dining room table with pulled chairs, the one

that head and diane sons and daughters and grandchildren had so much joy, $90,000 more than anything else in the collection. >> my daughter had a little mitt the breakdown. to her it was like you were selling brand of -- grandpa. >> once she talked through it with me she realized it was a good thing. >> he meant a lot to me and he was a great guy. coming from that greatest generation. >> the auction yields almost $400,000 a new standard of value for the works of george. bennett knew what he was doing getting all that

furniture from one house to the next. the bennett family "strange inheritance" from pennsylvania was given a second life from the hands of a master craftsman been witnessing a happy family life shipped off to collectors around the world treasured now as art for gore george was right each tree does have its own destiny. and one trees destiny will have another generation of bennett's one thing that she keeps for herself. >> my dad had a rocking chair here that i reflect with the free form arm so that is a piece i decided to keep. i was thinking in the back of my mind somebody will rocket child in this chair survey she has now furnished her house with other midcentury designers.

>> to george furniture's god and edmund is:. jamie: what is that like for you? >> i miss edmund terribly. i go by what is important to me that do not mourn that which is lost but rejoice instead the you have it. we had a wonderful life together. jamie: it then it not only assisted his column be filled with george's furniture but he also had very definite ideas what would or would not work on though ball right up until the very end. weeks before he died he sought by ian hanging things on the wall. he turned to his kids and said i am very worried about didy and by three european art. is it stated than he is still resting in peace. she says.

thanks for watching "strange inheritance". and remember you can't take it with you. . a menagerie of exquisite specimens. >> leopards, lions. >> skinned stuffed by a master. >> not everyone can take something that's dead and make it look alive. >> elk, moose, deer goats. >> walking into someone's life long obsession commitment, passion. >> antelope water bucks dikers, these lines are from night at the museum. >> that was a big get. >> can his sons get this legacy to pay off? or did they inherit a dying business? >> nobody has an inheritance like the one we've been

bequeathed. . jamie: i'm jamie colby and today i'm surrounded by millions of acres of pristine forest near vancouver, british columbia. i'm on my way to meet a family who inherited a legacy that evokes the very spirit of this wilderness. they're also left wondering how to preserve it. hi, brian. >> hi. jamie: how are you? i'm jamie. >> nice to meet you. jamie: nice to meet you, too. >> come on and check stuff out. jamie: love to see the house. thanks! what? oh, my god, what is going on? oh my gosh! this is your house? i can't believe it. looks like a zoo. >> my name is brian, and in

2010, my dad passed away and left us an inheritance with noah's ark implications. >> brian tells me he and his brother stacy inherited this menagerie from their dad, a taxidermist named steve. a series of calamitous events including the one that caused their father's death stunned the brothers. they struggle to carry on the legacy. born in 1938 he grew up on the family farm in nelson british columia. >> how did he get introduced to taxidermy? >> he sent away for mail order taxidermy books and started by doing chickens and rabbits and stuff around the farm. jamie: it sets him on a journey that takes him far from the farm, which he leaves when he takes a job as a weldner vancouver. that pays the bills but

taxidermy remains his passion. in 1959, he marries rachel collins and they raise three strapping young lads steve, jr. brian and stacy who has a bigger surprise for me 40 miles outside of vancouver. >> what? >> welcome to the arc. jamie: what stacy calls the ark is a drafty old barn stuffed with the kulash brothers inheritance. >> ark is right. you look like you have two of everything. this is incredible! at first steve kulash fashioned works like these in the basement of the family home. he began with game from his own hunting trips but soon after others brought by theirs too. jamie: did mom say if you bring another animal in this house i'm going to kill you?

>> i did hear her say that before, but she would soften her stance at the bit of coaxing. jamie: show me a fine example of your dad's work? >> ibex is one of his best works. jamie: why? what makes it great taxidermy? >> he paid a lot of attention to the shape of the eye. the muscles that make the eyes blink and tissue. you have to have an artistic eye. not everyone can take something that's dead and make it look like it's alive. he was an artist. jamie: like so many artistic types steve dreams of actually making a living from his life's passion. in the late 1960s he pulls the trigger, quitting that welding job and betting his family's future on his skill as a taxidermist. >> i remember going with him to empty his locker, and he had said, i'm just going to break free and do my own thing. jamie: he rents a store front and opens steve kulash

taxidermy brian pitches in when not working as a meat cutter at a grocery store while stacy works full-time at his dad's shop and learns his craft. >> birds of prey are my favorite, they look menacing even while standing still. jamie: his dad taught him anyone can stuff a bird but to turn a lifeless pile of feathers into this it's about the pose the articulation of muscles and limbs. stacy demonstrates the skills he learned at his father's side. >> separating the feathers along the breast plate and the breast bone. the entire thing stays to the skin and wrap cotton to make it look like it hassa flesh again. before they used to inject formaldehyde in the little fleshy part of this part of the wing. jamie: from start to finish each piece can take days of painstaking work. >> you would go at 9:00 in the

morning, sometimes he wouldn't come home until 8:00 at night. jamie: steve's dedication pays off. soon his shop is attracting customers from all over north america and beyond. >> what kind of money can you make doing taxidermy? >> a good sale that we had was $150,000 when we sold two container full ofs animals to japan. >> his store front on kingsway was a vancouver icon. when you walked in you realized you were walking into someone's obsession. jamie: rachel is scholar of the history of taxidermy called the breathless zoo. >> what i've done with taxidermy is to explore if it has relevancy in today's world what is its history? meaning? great taxidermy is when you think the creature might reanimate in some way. jamie: reanimate is right.

see the lions with ben stiller? steve kulash goes hollywood after the break. but first our "strange inheritance" quiz question -- the answer in a mom

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. >> so what's the oldest museum taxidermy display? . jamie: by the mid 1970s in vancouver, steve kulash has established a thriving taxidermy business, and himself is a legend in the field. >> he's a different guy. different cat. jamie: at the same time, tragedy stops the kulash family. in 1981 steve's wife rachel dies of cancer at age 38. seven years later. steven, jr., drowns in a boating accident. >> the death of my mother and my older brother crushed him. it just made him be closer to us because we're all he had. jamie: how did your family manage after that? >> we just dug ourselves into our work, and just kept going.

jamie: indeed long hours at work proved to be therapeutic. >> and then you're going to open it a bit right? jamie: as his reputation grows, new clients come calling. some from vancouver's burgeoning film industry. >> it was our first prop was the grizzly adams movie. jamie: grizzly adams his first big break. >> it snowballed from there. >> they would commission us to make a 10 foot by 4 foot thick grizzly bear for macgyver. jamie: then another action figure places an order. >> for the first rambo movie they wanted one for the sheriff's office. jamie: speaking of movie rentals do the felines look familiar? if so, you are one of the tens of millions who bought a ticket for the hit film "night at the museum." yep steve kulash made them

movie stars. they're the prize of his collection. >> there's a whole of african mammal. jamie: he stuffed them and digital artists made them attack ben stiller. down, boy! >> did you catch him? >> all by myself. jamie: so following his passion is paying off for kulash. a job he loves and the freedom and money to take hunting and fishing trips and safaris all across the globe. >> my dad could speak a few languages. loved to travel the world. this is my dad on one of his hunts fair mountain lion. jamie: that could be my favorite picture. >> i'm 50, and he's 70. we went hunting istill couldn't keep up to him. steve's friend herb karras

shared adventures. >> he could handle himself up and down the mountain or stay overnight in the woods if you had to. >> very good luck, have a good day. >> yes. jamie: in 2009 kulash gets recognized as a bona fide artist. he's work is featured in a museum show of animal art called ravishing beasts. rachel is the exhibit's curator. >> steve's taxidermy was great it. reflected who he was and had a certain charisma and passion to it. jamie: the following year kulash is preparing to pursue one of his other passions, an international hunting expedition. then one night in march 2010 his son stacy who lives in the basement of the family home is awakened by the smoke alarm. >> i open the bedroom door, there is a five foot fire.

jamie: as stacy runs next door to call the fire department. his dad makes a fatal mistake. >> he went and tried to put the fire out himself when he could have walked out the front door. jamie: could you see? could you breathe? >> i tried to get out of basement, there was too much smoke, i couldn't get back down there. jamie: steve kulash gets trapped amid piles of boxes and equipment. [ sirens ] . >> awhile later they told us our father passed away. jamie: he leaves behind the business where he'd worked side-by-side with his sons filled with nearly 200 mounted animals. that's not including the metaphorical elephant in the living room. can a taxidermy business thrive in the 21st century? and can stacy kulash the right guy to do it? did you say i know i can i

know i'm good, but it's not for me? that's next. >> here's another quiz question for you -- the answer in a moment. this allergy season, will you be a sound sleeper,

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when more pelts arrived in england they acknowledged it

was real. if you're wondering about rogue taxidermy don't change that channel! >> four years after their father's death, brian kulash and his brother stacy are struggling with their strange inheritance, a taxidermy business. plus hundreds of creatures crafted by their father a legend in the field. they face one big complication when they lose their lease on the shop their dad occupied for more than 40 years. almost 200 mounted specimens plus eight freezers full of skin have to be moved to a barn outside vancouver. if someone came along and said i have to have them all. >> definitely. jamie: how much would you want for everything have you right now? >> 270,000. jamie: that's not exactly a round number. you've thought about it. >> yes. jamie: the brothers insist their dad's work would go for at least that much back in the day. it will get that now?

stay tuned. >> inspect to find any res anywhere. jamie: meanwhile like his father did, stacy kulash gets calls from hollywood. >> two months ago working on a life-sized beaver for a movie about leonardo dicaprio. i had to make the belly open so the actor could skin it on camera. jamie: good work if you can get enough of it. >> at the end of the day, it's about the dollars. you can't pay your bills on good intentions. jamie: did you ever say i know i can i know i'm good but this is not for me. >> this is what i trained for over 30 years. i'm going to keep on doing what my dad taught me. jamie: it's only between stacy and i so we're in solidarity because we're brothers. i'm a meat cutter but i've recently retired and i need to regroup my family and push this

to as far as we can go. jamie: and that may mean going pretty far out there, to the land of jacklopes, pegasus squirrels and whatever you want to call this creepy creature? >> i took the back vertebrae of a deer and made a walking cane with it. jamie: