Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1893-08-05
4 MiLLIONAIRE'S PALACE.
TO BE BUILT ALMOST WHOLLY OF
STEEL AND GLASS.
The Novel Structure That a Califor
MIA Crr.us VIII Ereet-Not .
Foot of VIZ God Viii BE Used.

- such, who Is reputed 10
\ have made a fortune OF s..
600, 600 in South African dsa-
mond mines. has purchased "a "sp-
acre tract in the Temescal district. near
San Francisco. where he will erect 3
novel residence. a palace, IN fact, Hpon
which 81, 500, 900 viii be expended
aside from the finishing. This Is t. ne
a structure built almost entirely u
steel aud glass. The building. ac-
cording to the American Contractor.
is 10 be about $50 feet long by about
100 feet wide. At oae end /. Will .
s1rmounted by a tower lis feet hiEn.
AZ the other end by a similar tower,
but Of less size and height. A strlA-
ing feature will be the sides below the
cornice, which slope to. the groun',
with a curve at an angle of fortv-hve
degrees. In the sloplng sides arr set
oval windows twelve feet long and
made TO conform to the lines Of the
-cs Of the walls. The roo will IL -
huge gable extending the entire len-il
OF the building and Terminating II
another gable at right angles IL Wi h
NIX tGak1tl Sio' = -
tlows, one of which will be fifty leet
long and thirty feet wide.
Not a foot Of lumber or wood in any
shape Is TO be used III the building.
The material will he iron, steel, alulni-
mum, brass, bronze, platinum, silver,
concrete, cement and stone. And the
only stone used will be sculptured
marble in the stairways and the vain
~friczc, and onvxand decorative marbles
III the bathrooms, the stairs n a few
other places. Even the foundations
will BE Of steel and concrete. The floors
Will be Of concrete, brass and alumni
num-, the walls Of steel and the roof OF
steel, brass and copper. The inside
walls Will be some Of oxIdlZed sheet
iron, some brass covered with a prep
aratlon that protects the FURNISH OF
metal, some copper, some nickel and
SO on to correspond with the decora-
tions Of the room. The ceilings will
be arched and relieved here and there
with great brass medallions. The par
tltion walls will be composed Of metal
grilles extending from floor to ceiling,
arranged In various designs, forming u
vast network through which the visitor
can see from the grand stairway at one
end to the great ballroom at the OPP
posite end. Rich tapestries will or
d~inarily cover the metal grilles and di-
vide the interior thus into fourteen
apartments, eight of which will be
chambers and consist each of a suite Of
four rooms-a sleeplng-room, dressing
room, bathroom and study. All the
heating, lighting, ventilation and cook
ing will be done by electricity. Tho
servants quarters, the kitchen, tho
machinery and the laundry will all be
in the basement. The water wheel and
dvnamos will be located at the foot Of
the hill, h considerable distance from
the building. The sole entrancc to
the basement from without Will be at
the foot If the hill through tunnel,
SO that no one from within or about
the house will see the approach or en-
trance of servant, grocer, butcher or
delivery wagon of any kind.
The structure itself will be sur-
rounded by a broad walk, and outside
Of the walk will be an artificial LAKE
surrounding the building and forming
a moat to be crossed over a movable
drawbridge, thus placing the house
practically upon an island. This lake
Will be fed by water from artesian
wells already III operation and pumped
up by powerful pumps. The water Of
the lake will also serve to run ihc
dvnamo5 that furnish light, heat and
power for use III the building. The
floors of the building Will be of brass
and aluminium grille work Of orna'
mental design, the lnterstices filled
with IL new Hungarian cement which i
said TO become hard as granite whom
set and to admit of a high and durable
polish. The cement vii, be Of various
colprs and 50 laid with the metal grill.
ns 10 slrpass III effect ans mosaic
tOUrIng III existence. The winter
palace at St. Petersburg is 0 having
a floor laid OF this material and on
similar lines. Everything about the
building Is II he tireproof except per
haps a part OF the furniture. Even the
draperies and tapestries will be dipped
III Z solution OF glycerine and aI4no-
MUM borate, which render, them
l~ptru.aucutly unintiannabie.