The Opelousas courier., 1893-09-02
A MILLIONAIRE'S PALACE,
TO BE BUII&ALMosT WHOLLY OBJ
: eAND GLASS.
The Novel Structure That a Califor-
MIA Croesus will Erect-Not a
Foot of Wood VIII Be Used.

OAG1OOL1INc NOSUs
* such, who is reputed to
~ have made a fortune of $685.
6 600, 900 in South African dia.
mond mines, has purchased a 800
acre tract in the Temescal district, near
San francisco, where he will erect a
novel residence, a palace, in fact, upon
which 81, SOC, 900 will be expended
aside from the finishing. This is to be
o structure built almost entirely Of
steel and glass. The building, acc
cording to the American ConErctor,
is to be about $50 feet long by about
100 feet wide. At one end it will be
surmounted by a tower 115 feet high,
at the other end by a similar tower,
but of less size and height. A strik-
ing feature will be the sides below the
cornice, which slope to the ground,
with a curve at an angle Of forty-fve
degrees. In the sloping sides are set
oVI windows twelve feet long and
made to conform to the lines of the
sides of the walls. The roof will be a
huge gable extending the entire length
Of the building and terminating in
another gable at right angles in which
are placed immense stained glass vim
dows, one of which will be fifty feet
long and thirty feet wide.
Not a foot of lumber or wood in any
shape is to be used in the building.
The material will be iron, steel, alumi-
mum, brass, bronze, platinum, silver,
concrete, cement and stone. And the
only stone used will be sculptured
marble in the stairways and the main
~frieze, and onyx and decorative marbles
in the bathrooms, the stairs and a few
other places. Even the foundations
will be of steel and concrete. Thefioora
will be of concrete, brass and alumni
mum, the walls of steel and the roof OF
steel, brass and copper. The inside
walls will be some of oxidized sheet
iron, some brass covered with q prep.
aration that protects the burnish 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
tition walls will be composed of metal
grilles extending from floor to ceiling,
arranged in various designs, forming q
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
dinarily 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 sleeping-room, dressing
room, bathroom and study. All the
heating, lighting, ventilation and cook
ing will be done by electricity. The
servants quarters, the kitchen, the
machinery and the laundry will all be
in the basement. The water wheel and
dynamos will be located at the foot OF
the hill, a considerable distance from
the building. The sole entrance to
the basement from without will be at
the foot of the hill through a tunnel,
SO that no one from within or about
the house will see the approach OF 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
q 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 in operation and pumped
up by powerful pumps. The water OF
the lake will also serve to run the
dynamos that furnish light, heat and
power for use in the building. The
floors Of the building will be Of brass
and aluminium grille work Of orna
mental design, the interstices filled
with a new Hungarian cement which, is
said to become hard as gr.Inite when
set and to admit of a high and durable
polish. The cement vii, be Of various
colors and sn laid with the metal grille
as to surpass in effect any mosaic
flooring in existence. The winter
palace ct st. Petersburg is now having
q floor laid of this material and on
similar lines. Everything about the
building is to be ireproof except per-
haps a part of the furniture. Even the
draperies and tapestries will be dipped
in a solution of glycerine and ammo
ni,m borate. which renders them