New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-02-27
THE CURIOSITY SHOP.


finished uptown. 1t is curious den Of absu'diues
AT the entrance we met a stranger evidently fro n
foreisn psrt.. looking up and around, e1cla'minE,
uCs,.,b. 80 "Sacre ." and ike phrases css aud
HE hall Of a dozen fifteen feet in widen, and
,,in 20 the rear of the house rose before u to the
voof xi,h Az arched ceiling bedsubed all over with
,;dcpou. olsrpg COLOR tswdry ornament. and sense
leas gliding On either SIDE a. each story, gallery
"a, .rou1d from which there were entrances 70 tie
brbe,s In all dire ctions the finish was loafe7 90 Tn
trsd heneath ornaments carved, nodded painted
and pilded till one felt sense OF utter surfe' OF the
oro,esoue and gaudy. On one side OF the had is the
nn,lor which seeIns more Ike gallery, since its
jenc.b il three or four times ts width. Its sorry d.
uens;ops coLtrasted with the external capacity OF
fbebudirg are but too manifest 1t IL covered, cell
inc ard wsls. with fresco panting-sucb as would
bnydI, be tolerated on the walls Of country bar-roon
share many gods of he sven and earth do congeg .te
and shine. There are Jupiter, and Neptune, aud
Dante ard nobody knows who, including Dunoerle's
female deities with turn up noses aud open mouths
In the panels are various men Of musical renown,
resiliDg in the bosom Of the symbols Of their ait.
Their Dses ought TO be beneath them, but they ara
not On the opposite ride Of the hall /, a library
room with drrnsl accommodations for books, aud aw-
fu pictures Of Washington Lafayette and some Illus
trious compariot fatally fixed on the was over
this room is what the Quskers aud Yankees call
"meetip g.bouse il, place for religious ser
vices. his private chapel, where worship can be
performed in q very elegant and private way, aud
where lone but immaculate conceptions could besup-
posed to enter. The idea Of such thing in a Prl-
yae residence in the heart of the City Of York,
with foiiy churches within fifteen minutes walk OF
the spot, is one of those homogeneous stu 1ld'ties
,Io I'm wi dOm
that happily are OF found 10 Cypress the more
than once or twice in lifetime 10 the rear there
Off room for gymnastics extending upward from
the lower story, where man woman or child might
swing forward and back fifteen feet, more or less.
vhou, nockiny their brains out
Back OF the front hall is pcturc-room 90 feet
BY 25 designed for the exhibition OF pan lramic
view OF the whole length Of the Hudson River,
which is already painted 40 600 feet Of canvas and
awaits being unroed for exhio tion. The room is srge
enough for this grand panorama, when rolled up,
which could here be very inconveniently shown ten
feet Of a time to very imaginative master and mis-
tres Of the estab ishment aud two email children at
once, by then taking seats at the exreme end OF the
room and looking through the big end Of Telescope
The dining room OF thus estsblishneDt adjoins the
parlor on the rear, and is Of size that would not
necessitae the setting of the table tlau twice or
three times to feed all the guests the house would ac
commodate. Besides, it is well ventilated in every
direction the greater part Of the side walls being on
hinges. kitchen below answers to it in every re-
spect. cookirg-raoge is there found which. by be-
ing drove would do the cooking for half many as
the diniDg-room will accommodate. Up s'airs the
sleeping spatcoents are equal TO any oldfashoned
pscious house the country built ahundred years ago.
They are lust good-szed boxes withou; dressing
III Al. .,E,. al o1otin
for abution We have our own unsop histcated im-
presbiops that sleeping apartments constructed
with the simplest view to convenience for ttco, can
consist Of less thsn four rooms, to wit: common
sleeping room, private one for in cases of ILL.,
pess, and dressing room for each, AL attached.
This arrangement should be found in every $4,000
house. II is not found in most of our costly resi-
dences The reason is to be found in the fact that
our Iich people all spraDg from the ROOFS, and bear
fruit without having been grated In their youth,
sone slept in the forecastle, a few in the cabin,
md large numbers in the shop ia the attic, or on the
NOW Whist do they know about elegant arrange
ments except az they copy from tdeir equally unin
sructed neie hbois Our architects no better We
tust the latter may improve the HINT We have THROWN
out. We labor for the Improvement OF all, AMI our
philanthropy embraces even The deGzens OF the Fifth
avenue.
bsl Der s-shop, with of water basins s on the
lower floor near by the lower hall The only thing
which seemed to us TO be wan,irg in this apartment
was the BARRIERS pole, which in vain looked to see
somewhere projecting from the wall Every ether
sgp and symbol seemed to be painted in one place OF
another about the premises but we are confident tha'
BY come mistake, the pole has been omitted But we
essay to make no detailed description of this lnde
scribable edfce Given endless quanttyo of pas-
ter mortar all sorts of grotesque forms for casting it,
yellow, blue and red paint gliding by the acre. the
entire stock in trade Of ignorant and absurd scene
painter and we have the interior thereof in fall We
must not omit mention of the staircase, especially, as
here is but one for coschman, butler nursery mad,
and children chamber-grs, master, Mistress guests,
gentry nobility, and all. Neither should we over
look the Conservatory with its elass roof just on
the north side of the building, where the sun never
comes.
This unique stopping place for a small family, dur
ing brief earthly pilgrimage in this Democratic he
public where we have nothing hereditary, belongs to
one Of numerous family, whose name and connec-
tons are extensively known. It's family cognomen,
which we shall not exhibit the bad taste to repeat
may be found in the records of the life and times OIL
the immortal Dcesteks. Indeed, every gentleman
and simpleman has several Of the family among his
speakiDg acquaintance At various times In the ear
Ger and later history of this country, as OF all coun'
s some one or more members of the name has Illus
trsted the peculiar significance OF his family appena-
ton. and none more emphatcally than IN archNec'u-
raj achievements like this, built up in one generaon'
40 be thrown down and converted into ruoosn IN tue
next IL money is sometimes made easily IN this
,nu,,rr an IL II often foolshly sou andered. Think