Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1881-07-21

Sun.
A Modern-Antique Long Branch
Cottage.
A Long Branch letter-writer saws:
MIR. Victor Newcomb, formerly of the
Louisville & Nashville Railroad, and
his family, are occupying their cottage,
just beyond the EIberon Hotel, which is
one OF the most elegantly planned and
finished residences here, and as sum-
mer home can not be surpassed. 1t is
one of the most unique specimens of the
new-fashioned old-fashioned dwellings [
have yet seen. The architecture is old
English, but the house is far from being
SO gloomy in appearance without or
within as are most of the Queen Anne
houses have seen here and at Saratoga.
The building is being entirely finished
within in hard wood, a different kind
being used in each room. In one it is
mahogany, in another maple, in an
other the California red wood, in an
other oak, and another Georgia pine.
A square hail, entirely finished in oak,
even the walls, and having a ceiling
showing rafters of that wood, occupies
the center of the. first floor. The floor
of this hall is tiled with red tiles, to rep
resent brick floor, except in the CEN
ter, which is white, checked with red.
The enormous fireplace has large iron
crane and other i'm plements like the old
time kitchens had. A metal screen,
with colored glass panes, draws down in
front of this fireplace and serves as a
blower or screen. On one side of the
fireplace, provision is made for hanging
kettle in which to brew champagne
punch. Champagne punch made by
such an antique fireplace savors
rather of an anachronism, 1 think.
Over all the mantels in the
house are fancy cupboards or
shelves for brio a-brac. am delighted
the mirror mania has died out, and one
is not confronted with oneself making
grimaces in the effort to do the agreea-
BILE over every chimney-piece and be-
tween every pair of windows. The
entrance door of the Newcomb cottage
opens horizontally halfway up, as did
the old-fashioned doors when it was
necessary to look out before opening all
the doors to ascertain if friend or foe
sought entrance. A round tower on one
side further suggests the idea of forti-
fed castle. The main door opens into
the square hall, in which the windows
have small stained glass panes. Large
skins of wild beasts are used as rugs
upon the floor, and pictures on easels
and statuary on pedestals, with some
quaint chairs, complete the furniture.
All the rooms have low ceilings, but
high wainscotings. In some the latter
extend as much as six feet above the
floor. In the dining room the ceiling,
as we'll as cornice about two feet deep
Immediately below the ceiling, are of
cork. This material was used not only
to prevent dampness, but also to defy
the powers of all the flies of flytime to
injure it. The spots usual in cork, how
ever, make the ceiling look as if flies
had already done their worst, as was
proved by a lady saying to Mrs. New
comb in dead sarnest, elbow sorry am
to see that the lies have specked your
beautiful new ceiling so badly!" The ex-
terror of the house has picturesque
gables and recess balconies and
buttresses, the latter lighted with
glass bull 's-eyes, as are some of the
gables. 'Don't that gable look as if
stuck full of soda water bottles?'' asked
a merry visitor of me. [ quite agreed
with him, and expressed my regret that
a rich man like Mr.. Newcomb should be
reduced to the necessity of stopping up
the holes in his new house to keep the
wind away in such a manner. In build
ing those new-fashoned old fashioned
houses, there seems such an effort after
the realistic in the reproduction that
fully expect to see in some of them bro
ken panes stuffed up with an old-style
heavy leather boot or yarn sock. The
bull s-eyes, looking like the bottoms of
saltwater bottles, are an instance of
this realism, since they were used for
stables and attics in olden times, when
glass was not made by the same process
as now, and these bull's-eyes were the
refuse after making panes of glass and
we're sold cheap. Another instance of
the realism is the speckled-cork ceiling
Of the dining-room, which so closely i'm
itates fy-specks without being as I'M
clearly as the real thing. Despite the
fact that they have just completed their
cottage, begun over a year ago, and
have built and furnished it exactly to
suit them, it is quite possible that Mr..
and Mrs. Newcomb will divide the larger
portion fthe summer between cottage,
at the United States Hotel, Saratoga,
and tour in Scotland, his physicians
having recommended Mr.. Newcomb to
visit the latter country for his health