Edmund McIlhenny concocted the now famous TABASCO® brand pepper sauce in a wooden frame building called the “Laboratory” on the Homestead grounds of the Avery McIlhenny family. A factory built in the early 1900s replaced the Laboratory as demand for the pepper sauce grew. The present 70,000 square-foot factory was built in 1978, and its style was based on the old factory. In 1988 another 40,000 square feet was added to the building, and the old turn-of-the-century factory was renovated for office space.