Los Angeles herald., 1892-03-15
A HOME IN VENICE.
AN ENGLlSHMAN'S IDEAL ABODE
IN THE CITY OF CANALS.

A Venetian Palace. Its Treasures Of Art
and Personal Interest-A Few of the
Many Ornaments, Pictures. Books and
Bits Of Rare Bric-a-Brac.
When some five and twenty years ago
Sir Henry Layard resolved to make for
himself, and for the treasures of art
which he had gathered from the four
winds Of heaven, a home in Venice, he
found, fortunately enough, that the Ca
Tor Casa) Capello was just at the very
moment at his disposal. It had been the
abode for several years of an English
man who had just died, and who had
left Mr.. Malcolm, then we'll known
among the English residents and now
their doyen, his executor. A friendship
had long existed between Mr.. Malcolm
and Sir Henry Layard, born of similar
ity of taste, which has ripened with
many years of neighborhood and inter-
course.
1t was thus that the Ca Capello came
into the hands of Sir Henry Layard, and
from that day it has been his home.
Hither in the intervals of his ministerial
duties, his missions and his visits to his
English kinsfolk, he has returned with
ever growing zest and affection. Here
he has surrounded himself with fine
library, q noble collection of pictures
and bronzes, marbles and mosaics, tap
estries, ancient furniture and bric-a-
brac, relics Of the past, the spoils Of a
long and varied career. Here, too, in
the year 1869, he brought his wife,
daughter of the late Sir John Guest.
It is barely possible to reach the Ca
Capello on foot. You may cross the
Rialto and bear toward the left through
and across a series of tortuous and intri-
cate CALI, but the two handsome gon-
dolas, reposing on the broad bosom of
the canal at the door of Ca Capello,
which has every right to be called the
front, suggest to the callers the only
rational method Of entrance. It has
been said that the house is not one of
the largest; its aspect, however, is un-
doubtedly one of the most attractive in
the most beautiful highway in the world.
THE HOUSE.
The two sides of the house, one in the
Rio di San Polo, the principal, with the
porch on the Grand canal, give scope for
o display of color which elsewhere might
suggest garishness, but which in Venice,
par excellence the city of many colors,
is natural and pleasing. As your gon-
dola reaches the broad fight of steps be-
hind the tail green pail, you cannot fai!
to notice that every window sill bears
its burden of flowers after our English
fashion, and that the portico is veritable
floral bower, with conservatory over
it, in which, beside the greenery, an i'm
mense Venetian glass chandelier is
most striking object. It is mass of
vine with depending black grapes, great
creeping convolvuluses, canariensis and
white jessamin, all struggling for life
apparently, with no inconsiderable de-
gree Of success, on the trellis work
which supports them.
As is common in Italian private resi-
dences, what we ordinarily describe at
home as the ground floor is given up to
the servants and the domestic Offices of
the establishment. A broad staircase
on the left of the entrance, on either
side of which, fixed in the wall, is frag
ment of sculpture from Nineveh, leads
into hall of noble proportions which
divides the house itself into two une-
quail parts. Here some of the larger
pieces of furniture, such as the cabi
nets, are to be found; and here, too, a
pair of admirable three-quarter length
portraits of Sir Henry and Lady Lay
ard, painted in Madrid by Palmarol,
head of the Spanish academy at Rome,
face each other. Another portrait of
Sir Henry Layard challenges an even
closer inspection-that, namely, by Lud
wig Passini, which was shown in the ex-
hibition of the Royal academy. Large
reception rooms give out on either side
of the hall, and, like it, all are floored
with terrazza, a material which to its
great beauty adds the advantage of be-
ing absolutely uninfammable.
TASTEFUL FURNISHINGS.
The dining room and the drawing
rooms are filed, but not crowded, with
beautiful works of art, including mas
terpieces of such painters as Gentle
Bellini, Bonafazio, Sebastian del Piombo
and many other famous Italian masters.
Nor are the exquisite and delightful
productions of the furnaces and work
rooms of Murano forgotten. Of the
modern Venetian glassblowing proc
esses, Sir Henry is most indisputably
the founder, and some of the most per-
feet specimens of this beautiful art are,
as it is fitting, to be seen in his house,
as well as some beautiful inlay work,
and the admirable woodwork by Biraghi,
who executed the famous double stair
case in walnut wood for Lord VIM
borne, at Canford, under Sir Henry's
directions.
Sir Henry's own sanctum is on the
upper floor of the Casa. Here are
records and memorials of more per-
sonal kind than were noticed in the
lower reception room, and among
them the Englishman does not fail to
notice tho framed certificate on illumi-
mated vellum, headed "Challis, Mayor
which sets forth the bestowal of the
honorary freedom of the city of Lon
don upon Austen Henry Layard. Here,
too, are some noble bronze figures,
portfolios, huge volumes bound in vel
lum and gold, and a host of books
nearly all, it may be remarked, of quite
modern MISUNDERSTANDING with the