Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-04-20
tCopyrightedl

| IL.
led It, 1t has evolved more print and more
eIoquence than all the rest of the historic pile
| The walls literally exude romance
MARIE ANToINETTE's BATHROOMS
The Empress Eugene endeavored to link her
name with the charmed spot, but the ruthless
french effaced her monogram and the verses
she wrote on glass panel they removed entire
III IN fact not only inspired Mrs Vanderbilt's
| bathroom. but the one designed for Mrs
Seward Webb IN her fathers house. Marie An
| tolhette bathroom Is a series of three rooms,
! or one room i'll three divisions OF these
| one oyerlookS garden; the middle connects
| win bedrooms on either side: the third
! Is an alcove in which is the bath. The
nrst two rooms are hung in silk, with beauti-
fui paintings over the doors, the ceiling is in
| relief and cOlored with soft rich tints. The
| tub room Is panelled in marble, and the tub
which Is OF marble, is set i'll the wall and fed
! by swans necks and heads of solid silver
BACK OF the tub is large mirror and this
1 mirror Is painted over with dimpled little
| boys-why always boys no one knows-peltng
| one another with flowers. Mirrors are set also
IN the ceilings ponds like crystal lakes amid
the soft Louis XVI garlands. Imagination can
scarcely go further than this reality. in which
beauty Is reflected and multiplied. and in which
Is lnextrlcably mingled the figure of the fair
| and luckless queen.
IN W. II. vANDERBILTs HOUSE
The splendor we have. the romance we will
have to do without. In fact. in this busy,
money-getting age. the imagination carries one
/ too near the ludicrous to be unleashed. The
late Mr. Vanderbilt was no nymph. No more
| Is MI. Marquand. nor Mr. Robert Garrett and
other rich men who have bathrooms panelled
IN mirrors and wreathed in morning glories
! In two OF the Vanderbilt bathrooms the feature
| OF the mirrors Is doubled. In that of Mr.. w
J II. Nanderbllts house now attached to the
guest-room. the wood used is the lustrous silken
! satin wood, and the wainscoting. the wardrobes
! ana path are lined with Mexican ONYX. which
| repeats IN greater beauty the tnts of the satin
wood. The doors are panclled with mirrors to
! the floor. Above the wainscoting the wall is
| overlaId with small beveled mirrors and these
/ are carried up to and over the ceiling Yelling
/ these thousand eyes Is a tilmy network of lace
| painted on the mirrors, but parting above in
| order that cuplds may peer through What
would Mr.. Mitchell's Persian have thought of
this pretty fancy?
IDEALLY BEAUTIFUL.
Mrs. W. X. Nanderbit's bathroom is even
more ideally beautiful The room has a
high marble wainscoting perfectly plain to
the top, where there is a band of incased
ornament traced i'll gold. The walls above
are paneled IN small beveled mirrors sep
arated by bands of gilt moldinc. Over
these are painted apple blossoms. dropping
| sprays laden with bloom. The ceiling is mod.
eled Ill Henry III ornament, for the bath con-
meets with Henry III bedroom and is colored
III cream and gold. The color harmony of this
and there and echoed by the mirrors is
one of the triumphs of latter-day decoration.
| Beneath all this beauty is the tub cut out of a
| solid block of marble with a carved moulding
OF scallop shells. The faucets are swans heads
and breasts OF solid silver, and at the head of
this magnifcence is a niche in which is a COPY
| of that fair figure of bather with her tunic
| hfted ana about to step in the bath, by one of
| Coyseyox brothers, sculptors in the DAYS of
! Louis ANl and the original of which is in the
| Louvre. y marble slab, resting ON tabled crea-
lures. is the only piece of furniture in the
| room.
| AT CHESoSCEAUx.
| The Chenonceaux bathroom is the inspirer of
| other New York bathrooms equally magnificent
as those of Mr.. W. X. Vanderbilt and Mr.. Mar
| quand. No chateau in France is richer in MEM
| ores than ChenonceauX. 1t was begun bv
| Louis MI for Anne of Britanny Hither the
! gallant Henry Ii brought the fair widow Diana
| de Poitcrs, who was ousted after a time by the
! strong minded Catherine de AIedici, who COW
| eted this gem of the valley of Loire For two
| centuries ChenOnceauX has not been state prom
| erty. and its fortunes have been brilliant but
| vagrant. Its last owner was Madame Pelouze
| the devoted sister of that recent scaneprace
| Daniel Wilson, son-in-law of President Grew
and for whose debts Madame PelouZe has had
| to sell and resign the chateau she had SO en-
riched
This bathroom was added by Madame Pc
louZe. 1t Is large room with a vaulted cell
ing, Or what the architects call barrel arch
The walls are paneled to the arch in colored
marbles. and the arch is painted with sky
clouds, birds and vines to render an out-of-door
effect. The bath is made of marble sunk in
the floor and occupies the entire room A
flight OF marble steps descends into it from the
door and 1t is fed from dolphins heads cut in
the marbles.
MOORISH DESIGNS
Mr.. W. K. Vanderbil's bath copies this with
| difference. The vaulted arch is laid in Moor
ish designs, and the walls are wainscoted in
Moorish tiles. The bath does not occupv the
entire room, but it is sunk in the floor and
reached by steps, and the bath and all the
toilet arrangements are faced in Mexican ONYX
Mr.. Marquands bath resembles this in some
features. The walls wainscotted and the
bath. which is not sunk, is faced with old Sara
Genie tiles, brought from Spain with shining
lustrous faces, lost with the disappearance OF
| the MOors. All the angles are cushioned with
round, polished metal. Above is a barrel arch
decorated by Alr. Francis Lattrop in design and
tint to complete the Moorish character of the
room.
In the bathroom of Mr.. Marquand's son
there are further "reminiscences of Chenon-
ceaux. The bathroom is three times the ordi-
nary size, and the length of the room and half
its width is occupied by marble basin, into
which several steps descend. 1t is so large that
young MIR. Marquand may choose the spot in
which he prefers to battle and in a moderate
way strike out. 1t is, indeed, something of the
effect of a swimming tank, and is fed through
carved dolphins.
The private bath of the late Mr. ". H. Van
derbilt was Pompeian i'll decoration. 1t was
panelled i'll mahogany and the wardrobe doors
enclosed mirrors set in mahogany, while the
interior was lined with glass tiles Above, the
| frieze was painted in Pompeian designs of wo-
men and cupids.
MR.. GARRETT's BATHROOM
Mr.. Robert Garrett in his bathroom makes a
new departure at least in decoration, for his
bath, which is also of marble, is sunk in the
floor as those of Mr.. W. K Vanderbilt and
young Mr.. Marquand But the room takes
the semblance of an arbor. 1t is to the eve
bounded by lattice wreathed in morning
glories. On each side is an octagonal opening.
One is filed with a mirror; on the other cupids
sit gathering flowers. Everything contributes
to an out-Of-door effect. The climate of
Baltimore is warmer than New York and
SO airy bathing place may affect the imagina-
ton as delightfully."- it does the eye for it ia
charming in color. Mr.. Maynard's painting
| has been done on white marble, and then sub.
| mitted to what is known as the endolithic pro-
cess, by which marble is made to take any de-
sign or any hue. Here it is made to harmonize
with the creamy tints of Siena marble, which
is used in bands below the decoration.
IN CLEANING WHITE.
So varied are tastes that while Mr.. Garrett