Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1874-12-02
A WONDERFUL HOUSE.
Its Interior SURPRISING Oriental SpIendor-
What Can be Done in Decorative Art.

ii
sion of ordinary exterior, the dwelling
terror SO unique and costly that we con-
dense an account of it from recent de-
scription by visitor. It is a square,
lead-colored building, externally unno-
ticeable; -" but pass through the door
way, and in an instant every fair
cline surrounds you" Entering
room for reading and writing
we are conscious of certain
warmth of reception even from
the walls They are of silk, made in
Lyons, after designs by Owen James,
an Englishman of great reputation for
interior decorations. The design sug-
gests an endles series of amphorU
(oval-shaped vessels), whose outlines
have suddenly budded off into little
branches. The surface is Persian, and
the sentiment of the room is Oriental,
without presenting a single instance
where Oriental work has been copied.
The carpet is Persian, also designed by
Jones, the most noticeable figure being
the crossed squares in star shape, to
match similar one in the coffered cell
ing aEe .z-s
There is also blue room, a yellow
room and a pink room, but in none of
these are there any loud or garish tints
The ceiling of the reading room is after
the fashion of italian work OF the fif-
teenth century, which ceased to be used
On account of its great weight and liza
bility to fall. 1t was composed of
heavy mouldings in deep relief; but
Jones revived it and rendered it safe by
inventing material called fibrous plas-
ter. He made the mouldings of wool
and covered them with canvas, to which
he applied many coats of plaster, we'll
rubbed down in any shape he wished,
and afterward painted. The Golfers in
this house are star-shaped, and in
But neither the wonderful hangings
nor the elaborate ceiling are compare
BILE with the manner in which rare and
precious woods are used. In he dado,
jambs and chair boarding we find no
carving, but simply ebonized and natu-
raj colored woods. Some Of these are so
fine that the closest inspection fails to
detect any grain. All the rosettes on
the chimney pieces, gatherings about
the doors, and cappings for the dados,
are formed in white, golden, red, cream
colored and brown, Of all shades, in the
natural wood, not stained or painted in
any way. Even the chairs and tables
are made of precious woods.
In the library the book-shelves do
duty as dados around the room, and
have doors Of alternate glass and wood,
The latter are adorned with foliation
over two feet high, growing from the
bottom Of the panel and leaning out at
the top, which cannot be surpassed by
any ancient marquetry. Above these
the green and golden lustres Of the wall
rise to cone, above which is an early
Tudor ceiling Of checker pattern, be
tween reliefs of a large star with four
shadows of different colors, or a star
within star, golden, dark and white
The chimney piece gives the impression
of large arched cabinet, with fre-grate
beneath, having two wings, in
which are contained specimens of por-
celain from Persia and Cashmere. Old
as these are, they have the appearance
of having been designed for the room;
the decorator never saw them until
they were brought in by the owner of
the mansion. The drawing room mas a
fretted ceiling, frieze of damask, picked
out with gold; inlaid cabinet work dado
surrounding the room like a necklace.
The .chimney-places are by Lebec, of
Paris, one of them occupying two years
to finish.
In the matter of metal work, Mr.
Morrison, on tour in Spain found in
an humble village a workman named
Zouloaga, who, he felt sure. was, capa-
BILE OF great things If he had a; chance,
SO he gave him commission of S., 900
to execute something, and the result
was Golfer or chest, nine feet by three,
which Zouloaga worked on for four
years. When Morrison received it he
acknowledged at once that he had paid
only an installment of the value of this
marvellous work. It is simply described
as being covered with all manner of
scrolls and figures in. iron, with SO
wonderful finish that it must be seen
to be appreciated. Morrison found the
best metal workers in Spain, the best
ornamenters in Paris and silks in Lyons,
but for cabinet and wood workers he
had no occasion,to go out Of England.
There is nothing in the house inharmo-
NOUS with its purpose. Even the chairs
are works of art, constructed of pre-
cious woods and nearly all different
from each other, some suggesting the
perforated chairs of the Delhi palaces,
others the Saxon throne in Westminster
Abbey.
Above all there is no sham in this
house; no wood pretending to be metal,
no iron affecting to be marble Each
part of the house has it's proper rela-
ton to the whole, and each detail ex-
hibits the same harmony and matchless
art, the table leg as truly as the Lebec
mantlepiece. Ascend the magnificent,
stairway, pass the globes of light up
held by bronze candelabra, seven feet
high, and you will find the same pain