The Davenport daily gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1869, 1857-03-05
THE DAILY GAZETTE.
4 Is s : WISeFYIANEODS.
I6LEWILD, THE RESIDENCE OF N

n
Mr.. Vsux, in his book on Villages
and Cottages, gives description OF
1dlewild, from which we extract the
following:
The position selected, while it com.
mands . full view Of Newburg bay,
il ON the edge Of wood, and on the
ys.gs oi q plateau that almost over
hangs a deep ravlne. The rocky
sides Of this gorge are clothed with
sturdy pinsa0and helnlocks; and thus
often shut out from the eye, but never
from the ear, turbulent mountain
stream that roars through the long,
narrow pass, and tails some two hun
dred feet in series OF rapid, success
i've leaps within short distance Of
the house. There is also q quieter.
brook that winds it. way through the
property, and yet another smaller
rivulet, both OF which, after iraterni
zing with their more noisy energetic
companion, flow into Moodna Creek,
which almost at the same point emp
ties itself into the Hudson. The site
for the house is therefore very pictn
rescue, and is peculiar in many res.
poets, overlooking, as it does, the
Hudson and three or four OF its tribu
taries. These latter, with the ravine
and inland scenery, lie far down on
one side. Beautiful views of the bay
and Highlands are gained from the
south and east fronts, and athick pine
wood encircles and protects the re-
mainder. ..
sWhen the building had been en-
tirely erected on paper, and before the
foundations were laid, all the lines of
the plan were set out under the spe.
cial direction Of Mr.. Willis, who seem
cd to take more interest in accomoda-
ting the house to the ianeies Of the
genius Of the place than in any other
part of the arrangement And the
whole design was 50 fitted among the
svergreens, and adapted to every Pc
culiarity o. the cite, that it appears to
be almost surrounded by tall, flourish
ing trees; although broad sketches OF
distance in every direction, and exten
sive views OF the river and mountain
scenery, are gained from the various
windows, each view being a separate
picture set in a frame Of untading foil
age. The advantageous result arri-
we'd at by this careful stndy of the ex
act position for such q house, although
more negative than positive, is incal
cnIable. The hew house was made
to look not new, points Of view were
not sacrificed, and time was not lost
in waiting for young trees to grow in
place OF sld ones that would have had
% be removed for the sake of pros
pect, ifless foresight had been exercis
cd at starting. In such cases tits the
foot or two one way or the other that
makes or mars, and when once the
contractor is fairly at work, alteration
10 next to impossible.
sMr. Willis's house looked like an
old familiar settler almost before the
rooi was on, and it can easily be under
stood that, under such circumstances,
every subsequent stroke in the way
Of improvement will yield its fullest
value.
From the upper approach road on
the level Of the plateau and principal
entrance the house appears to be,
what in actual fact it is, a plain, roomy
cottage residsnce, con fortably shelter
ed among the trees; but from the low
en- road along the river bank, at the
mouth Of the gorge, its situation gives
ita less ordinary effect. High up
amoug the trees, and apparently on
the very edge of precipitous ascent,
It'll seems to peer over the toprnost
branches Of the dark pines, and to
command the whole valley below. ~
The position is exactly such a one as
q medieval knight would have select
ed ior his stronghold, and a little ina
sination may easily transnute the
simple domestic cottage into the tur-
reted and battlemented castle.