Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1885-03-12
THE WIDOWS PALACE.
Mrs. Mark Hopkins and Her New
House at Great Harrington, Mass
The Possessor of $3O,O00,00O.
NeW Nork Morld.

A paragraph was published some
days ago IN which ii was said that
Mrs. Mark Hopkins, of California,
had determined TO build a $4,000, 600
residence at Great Darlington, Mass.
Previous to that the Boston papers
had published the report that the
house was to cost only enefifth that
sum, and the third and last report is
tnat the amount to be expended is
only $780, 600. 1t is true, indeed, that
Mrs. Hopkins is going TO build res
| idence at Great Darlington. 1t is
| furthermore true thatit is to be a very
expensive one-the most expensive
probably in Massachusetts, or even
New England, 1t Will not cost so
much as $4,000, 600, but it will cost
more than $1,000, 000 The plans are
completed and have been accepted
They now rest in the hands Of New
York architects, and viii not be made
public for some time. Work on the
building will be commenced the COM
ing spring, and Mrs. Hopkins expects
to see it ready for occupancy three
years hence.
There is some interesting history
woven in and about the life of Mrs
| Mark Hopkins. She Is the widow
of Mark Hopkins, weo was one of the
| FIVE men of California who built the
Central Pacific Railroad, and made
each a princely fortune out of ii. The
others were Leland Stanford, Q. p.
Huntington and the two Crockers.
/ Hopkins was the treasurer Of the com
pany from its organization in 1861, or
thereaboUt, till his death, in 1878. He
left an estate that vas inventoried at
$21. 700, 600.
He died without having made a
will and without children. By the
common law Mrs. Hopkins would
have been entitled to only one third
of the immense estate. The courts
made her the executrix, and she took
possession, but the two brothers Of her
deceased husband, Moses and Samuel,
for the latter had died, brought a suit
against her, and secured her removal
from the executorship of the estate,
and an accounting of it. The matter
was finally compromised, Moses Hop
/ kins, and the sons of Samuel Hopkins
being content to receive together some
81, ZOO, geo in hard cash. Mrs. Hop
! kins got the remainder, which, as
already stated, now amounts to about
$50, 000e90. Thus do we come to know
who Mrs Marx Hopkins is and how
| she became so rich.
Before Mark Hopkins died he built
the first of those palatlal residences
! tibet have since excited the wonder
and admiration of all who have in the
past ten years visited the city Of San
| Francisco. 1t was constructed of
wood, like all the others Of its class,
but had about it all the elaoorateness
and extravaganza of some of the
! finest English country houses. 1t
was said to have cost 81, 200, 600, and
at that time tho Stewart residece in
New York City was the only dwelling
house in America that had cost tina.
sum. II was the Hopkins mansion
that made Mob Hill the fashionable
quarter of San Francisco. All have
heard of the splendid residences that
| Governor Stanford. James Flood and
other California millionaires have
since built there. Since her husband S
death Mrs. Hopkins has purchased
/ Menl0 Park, Raston's famous country
| place, and there she has settled her
adopted son, young man of 26, who
recently married a Miss Crittenden Of
| California, niece of Mrs Hopkins
Notwithstanding all these large
| possessions, not to speak of others on
the Pacific coast, Mrs. Hopkins pro
J nccms 10 ,,sl-a la,. bo,,a -, ba,, b,,c
/ band native town of Great Barring
/ ton, Mass. She has always had an
affection for the place, and comes
/ there because its people and surround
Ings are consenial to her taste.
During recent years Mrs Hopkins
has come here TO spend her summers.
| 1t was there that she lived when q
young girl, and there that she was
married. When she grew rich she
added the porticoes, put col0red
! glasses in some of the windows, and
furnished it luxurantly. The carpets
in every room are as soft as down, the
chris are Of antique mahogany uphol-
stored in yellow silk plush. Every
bit of pottery, every bit of bronze,
chair, stand, vase or whatever it may
be, bears evidence of having been
selected with cultivated taste
The new dwelling that Is to sup
plant Ike old will be 17S by 148 feet
and Will be built of blue delonaite. 1t
is very hard stone, of finer grain
than granite, and is obtained from q
neighboring quarry owned by Mrs
Hopkins herself. The exterior walls
are to show the stone in rough sur
face, with cut seams. The stables and
the coachman's cottage are already
built They are of the same dolomite
to. be employed IN the construction Of
the residence and look as though they
would endure through all the ages to
come. ! can not give a description Of
the residence for the excellent rea-
son that l have not seen the draw
ings.
1 The ground upon which Mrs. Hop
kins is 10 build her castle extnnds a
hundred yards along the principal
streets, and back of it, to the south a
little, IS level meadow valley that
runs off along the shoroof tho Housa-