In the kitchen of his widowed mother's boarding house Eastman tried various experiments, eventually developing a gelatin dry plate that could be processed later.
Monitored by 20 cameras, the first experiments were conducted over three days and saw the house endure ever increasing winds speeds up to a Category 3 hurricane.
Biologists are still running modelling experiments to determine whether to save the Wedgwood or leaded crystal as the house smoulders and timbers fall from the roof.