, 1884-08-30
JOHN SHERMAN'S HOME.
The Beautiful Mansion Which Has
Just Been Completed.
One of the PInest Country Residences
In the State OF Oh~io-InternaI
Arrangements, FurnI-
ture, Etc.
Boston Herald

lbo'lQA Iltfdlu-I
Senator Sherman Is just completing one Of
the finest country residences in Ohio at his
home in Mansfield. II Is a dark red brick Of
two stories and n mansard roof, finished out
with u tower and many corners. It has
roomy porches at the front and side, giving
shady seats and beautiful views at all hours
of the day. The windows Of the house, built
ON the French order, open like doors on to
these porehes, and their ceilings are OF polished
wood. The trimmings OF the house are made
Of II remarkable stone, n quantity Of which
underlies Mrs. Sherman's farm cast of the
city That used by the senator comes from a
quarry on an adjacent estate. II Is n red
dish sandstone, notified and grained with
many different colored veins. At soma
places it looks like a section Of knotted,
gnarly wood and at others like the veins Of a
Lnli-rotien stump carefully polished. The
Veins arr Of different widths, and they wind
and twist themselves around into all conceiv-
able shapes Now a number OF them will
run in parallel curves, now they twist them
selves into as many rings ms the snakes Of the
LAGOON, and now they stand out In all direc-
tions like the hair OF tho Medusa. Well
trimmed and polished and cut in.o beautiful
shapes their color matches well with the dark
red Of the house, ana in front, where they
show out prominently above the door and
hold up the great porch, they form a finish
more rich and beautiful than any stone that
can be procured anywhere else.
Tho interior Of the house, however, will he
its chief feature. II has many rooms, and
they are large, airy and high-ceilinged. The
halls are 50 wide that a ~wagonload OF hay
could be driven through them. They run
through the center OF the house and arc ar
ranged with n sort Of L at the back, so that
every room on each floor opens into its
respective hall. The carpenters were busy at
work here several days ago when passed
through the house in company with Senator
Sherman We went together throughout the
three stories, carefully stopping up the
partially made stairs, STOPPING low ns we
moved around through the scaffolding, and
going through a number of lnrge-windowed
rooms, giving a series of views which ex-
tended far and wide over the rich farms and
wooded hills Of Richland county. The house
itself is situated on some of the highest ground
in the state OF Ohio. 1t has a large lawn
filed with s~hrubbery, u fine orchard and
fields surrounding it, making up an estate OF
about fourteen acres. 1t fronts on Market
street, tho finest in Mansfield, and is well to
the west Of the city. Several OF these win
lows overlook the city, and there are none OF
them but that give beautiful country views
as well.
These large halls and easy staircases are
finished in a beautiful red cherry, highly pol
ished, and in places elegantly carved. Each
of the rooms Is finished in a different kind Of
choice wood, and each of them contains a
fireplace and mantle trimmed in the same
material The dining-room, for instance, is
OF . rich oak, with its sideboard to match.
The kitchen is finished in fine yellow pine Of
a beautiful grain and highly polished. The
sitting-room, ] think, is notified or birdis-eye
poplar, and the library in some other rich
wood. The shelves in the library are built
,lose up against the walls, and their HE or
namentatiou is the book resting upon them.
Before this time, Senate Sherman has
had his library in the third floor, putting 1t
in the northeast corner Of the room adjoining
Mrs. Sherman's ~sitting-room, which lies be-
tween it and the parlor. 1t is n large room,
well-lighted and airy, with several Windows
looking out upon the lawn.
Every room in the house has an electric
bell, and all the chambers ara furnished with
modern c-onvcniences. 1t win be a splendid
place for entertaining and 1t will continue for
many years as one Of the historic mansions
Of the country. It is a remarkably comforta-
bic house, and is rich without being extrava-
giant or gaudy. That which constitutes the
soul of the house is still to be added. AS yet
no curtains have been put up, and the glitter
and polish OF furniture and brass work are
absent. Tho pictures will be on the walls,
the fine rugs will partially hide the we'll
Joined floors, and bright chandeliers will
throw their rays over tho thousand and one
things which, so much more than woodwork
and masonry, go to tell the character OF the
inner life of a home or the taste Of its in
mates. As it is, it compares well with the
other homes Of great statesmen. Clay, Web
ster and Calhoun had but ordinary homes,
and Buchanan's Wheatland, near Lancaster,
though located much the same as Senator
ShermnnAs home, possessed no elegance worthy
of remark.