The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1883-12-19
PALACE FOR HIS HOME
HENRY vnLARD'S MAGN1P1CEHT
RESIDENCE In NEW YORK.
A Colossal Building Modelled after an
Italian Palace.-Its Exterior anu
Interior. and its Cost.

4 Colossal Building MOdeled after an
Italian Palace--Its Exterior anu
Interior, and its Cost.
A New York letter gives the following
description Of the residence OF Henry Vii
lard, president of the Norther Pacific
railroad. Henry Willard, the railroad
magnatc, has nearly completed his new
residence. or more properly residences,
on Madison avenue. The colossal struc-
ture occupies an entire block, having a
frontage on Madison avenue of 200 feet.
That part which he will occupy is on the
corner of Fifty-first street. Its frontage
is sixty feet and its depth 100 feet. The
other wing will be perfectly similar cX-
ccpt that it is divided into three houses,
and between the two wings is a court
eighty feet in width and scvcnty-thrce
feet in depth. That portion of the build
ing back of the court extends back forty
feet beyond the wings and is q double
house of itself.
In the center Of the court WILDE placed
q magnificent fountain, around which
will be a broad drive, and in each corner
a grass plat. Each house will communl-
cate directly with the court. Mr.. Vii
Iard's house and the two center houses
are completed, excepting the interior,
while the walls Of the remaining wing arc
up to the second story. The exterior Of
the great building is more grand than
beautiful. It is the result of a com
bination of Roman and Florentine archi-
lecture. plans of the Cancelleria palace at
Rome and the Farncz palace being copied
by the architects. The material is Belle
vile, N. j., sandstone, the light grayish
amber stone of which Trinity church was
built. Everything is massive, and there
is little attempt at ornament. Huge
blocks of stone are piled upon one anoth-
er and o%vcrtoppcd by a heavy cornice of
the same material. The wings are three
stories in height, beside the basement
and attic stories. From the sidewalk to
the top of the cornicc the measurements
sixty-eight feet. The basement and front
story are rusticatcd and the Others plain
stone ashlcr, with the angles strengthened
BY rusticatiOn. The front Of the two
center houses Unsupported by five arcadcs,
with heavy columns of polished Jones
boro granite. Dutch tiles cover the o
The whole effect is severe and dignitied.
Entering the spacious portal of the Vii,
lard residence, your correspondent found
himself in Il magnificent reception room,
fourteen feet by twcnty-cight in depth.
EVERYTHING here was in inlaid wood,
floor, ceiling. walls and columns. On
either side opened the drawing-rooms.
They are each 19x2S feet, and are being
finished in mahogany, inlaid with light
woods, satin wood and maple being no.
ticeablc. Between the pilasters will be
hung rich embroidered stuffs. The
prcdominating tones are a light, reddish
brown, and a light yellow. The draw
ing-rooms and reception room are so ar
ranged that they can be thrown into one
spacious apartment 100 feet in widthand
twcnty-eight in depth.
From the reception room a hall Tour
teen feet in width and forty-two IN
length leads to the music room. Alad-
din's lamp never revealed a hall more
magnificent. 1t is entirely in mosaic.
The material is yellow Italian marble.
The floor is in chaillon marble IN
small pieces woven into beautiful
designs. The mantel is a mas
terpiecc of the sculptor from an
Italian design, and the whole apartment
was executed by Italian artists in the
style of modern Pompcian palaces. The
hall Is spanncd by three scmi-circular
arches in Sienna marble with sculpture
by Louis St. Gaudiens. a vcstibulc IN
the same design leads out of the hall
back of the drawing-rooms. The music
room is the chef d'puvrc of the dccora-
tors art. 1t is a diminutive thcater
fortv-eight by twcnty-four feet in dimcn-
sion and thirty-two feet from the floor to
ceiling, extending to the third story. 1t
is in the style of the Francis !. room OF
Fontainblcau palace. The colors are
white and gold. A w%ainscoting eight
feet in height in carved pine surrounds
the room. The ceiling is an cleptical
vault, and every detail shows the skill of
the artist. Between the music o and
the vcstibule. marble stairs twelve feet
broad lead to the upper stories. Again
the tone is yellow. An elaborate renais-
IL ceiling spans the stairs. The Gle
vator way occupies the remaining space.
Across the hall arc the main breakfast
room and dining room. which can be
thrown into one apartment twenty by
sixty feet in size. Carved woods
again replace the marble. The room is
executed in English oak inlaid with white
mahogany. The ceiling is divided with
beams cascd with English oak, and the
carved f~riczcs, three feet in width, are in
laid with floral designs. The two man
ties are Of red Verona marble. and are
copies of those which Mr.. Mead was sent
to italy to select, but which arrived in a
somewhat damaged condition and were
presented by him to the museum of
art. Here also St. Gaudicns' skill Is
seen. The upper stories are in keeping
with the splendor below, although, OF
course, not so elaborate. The general
STYLE is Italian renaissance. The furni-
turc will be especially magnificent. That
of the drawing-rooms will be upholstered
and of colors harmonizing with the dec
oratlons, the reddish brown tone FREEDOM
mating. 1t was designed by the archl-
tccts who executed the rooms. The
other houses will be finished in Il style be-
coming their prctensions, although moth
ing like this. The cost of the building
unfurnlsncd will be m even million dol
lars. Of this the decorating of the draw
ing-rooms cost $50, 900; the dining-rooms,
SEQ, 900; the hall, $50, 900; and the
mushroom, $50, 600. AS much more
will be expended on other work in the
latter room a year hence. To finish the
interior of Mr.. Wizards house ncccssitatcs
the expenditure of $3.50, 900. The upper
floors arc now about completed and the
furniture is arriving.
The structure when completed will he
the most magnificent residence building
in the country, far surprising the Wander
bilt houses. 1t is the first attempt made
to reproduce an Italian palacci in America.
Henry Wizards house is Il palace, in fact.