The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1856-07-16
MANSIONS OF THE FIFTH-AVE-
NUEDLES.

The Honorable Miss Murray, in her
work on America, gives. the following
rather glowing description of some of
the splendid mansions to which she was
invited in New York The particular
house which she describes in detail, is
Naight's fac brown stone mansion, on
the corner of Fifteenth street and Fifth
I t-AYenne: 49,.
Having given a brief description of
the style of the ordinary dwellings, of
the afluent, I will just glance at those
of the wealthy, of which there are seve-
raj in Fifth Avenue, and some of the
squares, surprising anything had hith-
erto witnessed in royal or ducal palaces
at home. The ezterrals of some of
these mansions in Fifth Avenue are like
Apsley House and Stafford House, ST.
james; being substantially built of
brown stone. At one house which I
visited in --- street, about the larg-
est private residence in the city, and one
which is considered to combine the great
est splendor with the greatest taste, we
entered spacious marble hall, leading
to circular stone staircase of great
width, the balustrades being figures elab-
orately cast in bronze. Above this
staircase was lofty dome, decorated
with paintings in fresco of eastern scenes.
There were inches in the walls, some
containing italian statuary, and others
small jets of water pouring over artif-
cial moss. There were six or eight mag
nifcent reception-rooms, furnished in va
rious styles-the Mediaezal, the Eliza
bethan, the Persian, the modern Eng
lish, etc. There were fountains of fairy
workmanship, pictures from the old mas
ters, statues from Italy, chefs d ocuUre o1
art porcelain from China and Sevres;
damasks, cloth of gold, bijomr from the
East; Gobclin tapestry, tables of mala-
chite and agate, and nick -nacks of eve
ry description. In the Medi@Val and
Elizadethan apartments it did not ap-
pear to me any anachronisms had been
committed with respect to the furniture
and decor ations. The light was subdued
by passing through windows of rich
stained glass. l saw ore table, the val
ue of whisf1 might be about 2 .000 guin-
cas- The ground was black marble,
with q wreath Of flowers inlaid with very
costly gems upon it. There were flow
ers or punches of fruit, of torquoises,
carbuncles, rubles, topaEes and emeralds,
while the leaves were of malachite, cor
nelian, OR agate. The effect produced
by this lavish employment Of wealth was
not very good. The bedrooms were
scarcely less magnifcently furnished
than the reception rooms; with chairs |
formed of stag horns, tables inlaid with
agates, and hangings of Damascus cash
mere, richly embossed with gold. There
was nothing gaudy, profuse or promi-
nent in the decorations or furniture
everything had evidently been selected
and arranged by person of very refined
taste Among the very beautiful works
of art, was a collection of canoes, in
cluding some of Cellini's, from the an
tique, which were really enhancing to
look upon Another mansion, which n.
P. Willis justly describes as a fairy pal
lace of taste and art though not SO ex-
tensive, was equally beautiful, and pos
sessed a large winter garden. This was
approached by passing through success
ion of very beautiful rooms, the walls of
which were hung with paintings which
would have delighted a connoisseur. 1t
was glass building with high dome;
a fine fountain was playing in the centre,
aud round its marble basin were orange,
palm and myrtle trees, with others from
the tropics, some of them of considera-
BILE growth. Every part of the floor
that was not polished white marble, was
thickly carpeted with small green ferns.
The gleam of white marble statues, from
among tn. clumps of orange trees and
otI ar shrubs, was particularly pretty;
indeed the whole had q fairy-like appear
ance about it. Such mansions as these
were rather at variances with my ideas
ofrepublican simplicity; they contained
apartments which would have thrown in
to the shade the finest rooms in Windsor
Castle or Rockingham Palace. It is
not the custom for Americans to leave
large fortunes to their children; their
wealth is spent, in great measure IN sur
themselves with the beautiful
and the elegant in their splendid man.
sions: and it is probable that the adorn-
ments which have been collected with so
much expense and trouble, will be dis
persed at the death of their present pos
E They are some on "epitafs " in
California. The San Diego Herald pub
lishes the following, written upon
young man who was accidentally shot
"Rere lies the body of Jeems Hambrick