Omaha daily bee., 1882-09-25
TILDRN,s NEW PALAcN.
The Old Statesman Proposing to Live
in style.

New York Letter TO Philadelphia Times.
While the unsubdued pashas of tn,
Tammsny aud Irving hall tribes ar
drilling their Bodouins for active ser
vice at the state democratic conven
ton at Syracuse, "Uncle Sammy
Tilden, New York's political khedive.
is in retirement, wrestling with a pri.
vate architectural problem. A yea
or so ago he decided tc transform hi
famous Gramercy park retreat into +;
mansion that would throw Wander
bilt's new palace completely in TIL,
shade. At that time it was said tina.
the house, with its owner and othe,
curios, was TO form a sort of matri
monial prize package for a st. LouiJ
belle, but as there is no nursery in tn,
new editice the story is not believed t,
have been made out of whole cloth
Be that as it may, the mansion is un
doubtedly the hobby of Mr.. Tilden'i
life, and when completed it will hav,
cost something like a half a million
dollars and eclipse in artistic finish
anything of the kind in this country
For months past he has spent one OF
two days every week In his architec,
tural temple, and when he does not
| appear on the scene of action he sends
down his tri-weekly documents of in.
struction from his $4,000, 900 place on
the Hudson.
When he began the alterations Mr..
Tilden intended to spend about $50,
600 on them, but that sum was swell
ed to $500, 900, and it is thought that
$500, 900 more will be required to fin
ish the decorations. The building
fronts on Gramercy Park and takes in
Nc. 10, Mr.. Tilden's old house, which
has been remodeled throughout and
united to an adjoining building of the
same size. This gives the new palace,
which is four stories high, a frontage
of sixty and a depth of one hundred
and ten feet.
Traces of the Gothic style of archi-
lecture are noticeable in many parts of
the building, but no conventional rules
have been carried out. The architects
have worked under the personal super
vision of Mr.. Tilden, and the result is
one of the most unique and beautiful
residences in America. The front of
the building is based on brown sand
stone from Belleville, New Jersey,
with a superstructure of delicate pink
Scotch sandstone. The prevailing
tone of the facade is pink, and a bril-
liant contrast is brought about by mar
row belts of Maine granite, which
separate the native and imported sand
stone. These black granite belts are
highly polished and prettily engraved.
The arches and window trimmings are
all of black granite.
There are two entrances to the front
Of the mansion, and the main one,
leading into Mr.. Tilden's old house,
is remarkably beautiful. -Four col
umns of polished red notified granite
support the handsome porch owe the
main entrance, and above these col
umns are four colossal feminine busts,
representing the easons These were
carved from Scotch granite and are
framed in craven foliage, typical of
spring, summer, autumn and winter.
A slab of black granite, SO highly
polished that its under side reflects
like a mirror, forms the top of the
porch.
The stone trimmings of the porch,
and indeed of the whole front of the
house, are beautifully and deliberately
carved, and the designs r as quaint
as they are varied. In the countless
clusters and garlands of foliage are
birds, rabbits, squirrels, frogs, toads,
turtles, snakes, lizards, bugs and bu6-
t%ertlies, the whole forming a marvel
ously executed study in natural his.
tory. 1t would take hours to exam
inc the folisted carvings in the pink
sandstone, for these carvings are rep.
RESERVATIONS of no less than 159 varie-
ties of foliage, ranging from fern and
to maple and oak. In this
mass of foliage are 300 animals, birds,
reptiles and insects.
Between the two immense bay win
dows is found one of the most striking
pieces of decoration on the building.
In a large panel of brown sandstone
are five inches containing the heads of
Shakespeare, Milton, Goethe, Dante
and Benjamin Franklin, the latter
the center, with the others
at the of the tablet. The
high roof is broken by dormer win.
.ows of modern Gothic style, and
ornament the coping.
Notwithstanding the artistic beauty
of the exterior CT the mansion, it is
the interior that will excite the most
admiration from lovers of pro-
fuse decoration. The front rooms, a
.arlor and a library, flank the hall
way, and one of the huge bay windows
affords light for each department
The library, which is twenty feet
wide and sixty long, is the largest
room in the house. Mr.. Tilden has
one of the largest and most valuable
Libraries in America, and the twenty
thousand volumes it contains will fill
new apartment to overlooking,
The bookcases are of solid rosewood, |
richly carved. The main parlor is
feet long and twenty wide, and
NOih Vi lESoSollR ~ anu tuc IL
brary is not more than half done. OF
al the rooms in the house, however,
the dining hall is the most handsome.
is thiIty-ive feet square and has a
Vaulted ceiling. This is believed to
be the finest dining room in the coun-
try, and although $35 900 have been
expended in decorating it the work is
not near finished.
Second Edition of Job.
A. a . NJ n.,;;. A.aA I.n.1-