The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1885-04-30
THE WIDOWS PALACE.
Mrs. Mari. Hopkins aud Her New House
at Great Harrington Mass.

Mrs. Marx itDpktG% ana ftfF New 2ous9
at Great Harrington, Mass. .
A paragraph was published some
DAYS AGO in which it was said that Mrs.
, Mark Hopkins. of California, had de-
termined To build a 5000. 900 resi-
dence 1T Great Darlington, Mass.
Previous to that the Boston papers had
published the report that the house was
to cost only onr-1ifth That sum, and the
third and last report - that the amount
to be expended Is onl, :. .'Un.uOo 1t IS
true, indeed. that Mrs. Hopkins is 60
ing to build residence Al Great Bar
/ rington. 1t Is furthermore true that It
IS to be a very expensive onc-the most
expensive probably IN Massachusetts,
or even New England. 1t will not cost
50 mach rs -. UUO, 900. but it will cost
more than ; 5000 The plans are
completed and have been accepted
. They now rest in the hands OF New
/ York architects. and will not be made
public for some time. Work on the
foundation of the building will be
commenced the coming 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
4 MaEk Hopkins. who was one of the
five men of California who built the
Central Pacific Railroad. and made
each princely fortune out of it. The
others were Leland Stanford, c. P
! Huntington and the two Crockers.
Hopkins was the treasurer of the COM
pany from its organization in 1861, or
thereabouts, till his death, in 1875
He left an estate that was inyentoried
al S2l 100. 600.
He died without having made a will
. and without children. By the COM
mon 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 suit against
| her, and secured her removal from the
executorsnip of the estate, and an ac-
| counting of it. The matter was finally
| compromised, Moses Hopkins, and the
! sons of Ssn,Hel HOPKINS being content
| to receive together some ~ OOO,OOO in
hard cash. Mr.. Hopkins got the re-
! mainder, which, rs already stated, now
| amounts to about $50, 600, 900. Thus
/ do we come to know who Mrs. Mark
! Hopkins is and now she became so rich.
! Before Mark Hopkins died he. built
| the first of those palatial residences
! that have since excited the wonder and
admiration of all who have in the past
! ten wears visited the city of San Fran
cisco. 1t was constructed of wood.
! like all the others of its class, but had
about it all the elaborateness and ex-
travagance of some of the finest Eng
! lish country houses. 1t was said TO
/ = OF hot
the Stewart residence in New York
| City was the only dwelling house in
| America that had cost that sum. 1t
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 Cali
fornia millionaires have since built
| there. Since her husbands death Mrs.
Hopkins has purchased Nlenlo Park,
| Ralston'S famous country place, and
there she has settled her adopted son, a
| Young man of %, who recently mar
ried Miss Crittenden of California, a
niece of Mrs Hopkins.
Notwithstanding all these large pos
sessions, not to speak of Others on the
Pacific coast. Mrs. Hopkins proposes to
make her home in her husbands native
town of Great Darlington, Mass. She
has always had an affection for the
place. and comes there because its peo-
Pile and surroundings are congenial to
her taste. During recent years Mrs
Hopkins has come here to spend her
Summers. 1t was there that she lived
when a Young girl, and there that she
was married. When she grew rich she
added the porticoes, put cOlored glass
in. of the windows and furnished
it luxuriantly. The carpets in every
room are as soft as down, the chairs
are of antique mahogany upholstered
in yellow silk plush. Every bit of pot
terry, every bit of bronze, every foot
stool, every sofa, lounge, chair, stand,
vase or whatever it may be, bears evi-
dence of having been selected with
cultivated taste.
The new building that is to supplant
the old will be l7S by l4S feet, and will
be built of blue d0lomite. Ii is very
hard stone, of finer grain than granite,
and is obtained from 4 neighbOring
quarry owned by Mrs. Hopkins herself
The exterior walls are to show the stone
in rough surface, with cut seams. The
stables and the coachman' cottage are
already built. They are of the same
dolomite Ia be employed in the con-
struction Of the residence, and look as
though they would endure through all
the ages to come. | can not give
description of the residence for the eN-
cellent reason that | have not seen the
drawings.
The ground upon which Mrs. Hop
kinS is to build her castle extends a
hundred yards along the principal
streets, and back of it, to the south 8
1 1 har
runs OFF along the shore of the Housa-
tonic and to the foot of the picturesque
Berkshire hills on the other side. In
the midst of this smooth meadow field
is an artificial basin in which is foun-
tain from which in Summer springs a
stream of water nearly Il hundred feet
in the air and comes down in mist
that is as soft us a silken veil.
l Mrs. Hopkins is a woman of great
; strength of character. She is well tit
ted to care for the vast estate left her.
Both in appearance and mental charac-
r teristics she is strongly masculine. She
l is of commanding appearance, and one
: is always made to feel, when in her
: presence that she has the unmistak able
: elements of superiority. She is thor
; oughly acquainted with all the ways of
; business. has broad grasp OF financial
: questions, looks after her vast interests
5 with the closest minuteness, and drives
+ a bargain with tact and economy. Her
t husband was passiOnately fond OF hors-
n es; so is she. Her stable at Great Bar
t rngton is one of the completest and
!, most comfortable in the country. Its
:. inmates are of the finest breeding and
t movement, and are looked after by
z, their colOred master with the greatest
O care. During her visits to Great Bar
Z. rington. Mrs. Hopkins may be seen on
the afternoon of every fair day driving
out behind a pair of the trotters, she
herself holding the reins. She makes
long excursions about the surrounding
r country, and every inhabitaIft, young
IS or old, knows her. She is the great
woman of Great harrington. = Neso
N York World.