Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-05-18
A SUMMER RETREAT.
Refuge Of President, Mrs. Cleveland
and Baby Ruth.



| prettiest sections Of the picturesque Rocl
creek region in the northwestern suburb.
of the Capital City is the new summer
home Of the presidential family Mr.
and Mrs. Cleveland and Baby Ruth have
| just taken possession Of it. and they ex,
pect 10 remain at their country seat un-
III early autumn. The place is not quite
as far out as Oak View the summe,
home Of Mr.. and Mrs. Cleveland during
their former sojourn at the capital, and
it is more convenient to the popular
driveways which extend from the city
through that section. The estate, which
Mr.. Cleveland has leased for period OF
years, contains 43 acres and has long
been known as ''Wooiley."
This house is large, old fashioned
structure and was built nearly a cen.
tury ago. 1t has frontage of 100 feet,
the central portion being three stories
high and the two wings two stories each.
The walls are of brick, imported from
England in the days before it was sus.
pected that brick could be made out Of
the soil of Virginia or Maryland. The
foundations are Of heavy stone, and the
walls are thick and substantial. The
outside is covered with buff gray stucco,
and this i'll turn is overgrown in places
with clinging ivy. The architecture is
old fashioned, the big mansion resem
bling somewhat an English rural villa
of the style of the last century. 1t con.
tains % rooms, all of them liberal in
size.
The ceilings are high and the windows
wide and reaching almost to the floor
The biggest room is the main parlor,
which is on the ground floor. 1t has
been handsomely furnished, and it is
where Mrs. Cleveland will receive
her friends who may call this sum
mer. Adjoining it is the music room,
another handsome apartment. 1t is
nearly as large as the big parlor, and
grand piano occupies prominent place
i'll its furnishings.
An interesting history attaches to the
old mansion. The estate was originally
owned by Governor Platter Of Maryland
He decided it to Uriah Forrest, one of his
sons-in-law. and in 1900 the latter sold it
to Philip Barton Key, another son-in-law
of the governor. Key built the house and
lived in it until his death. During his
residence there Francis Scott Key, the
author of The Star Spangled Banner"
spent considerable time on the place as
youth, and his name may still be seen
where he carved it in one Of the window
panes in the front hall.
1t is said that Washington at one time
visited the spot where Key afterward
built his house. and examining it re-
marked that the capitol ought to be To-
Gated there or else upon the hill where it
now stands. Van Buren,, Tyler, Buchan-
an and other Of the earlier presidents
were occasional visitors at this country
seat, aud in 1871 Baron Erault, then Ger
man minister to the United States, oc-
cupied it as IA residence. 1t was at one
time selected by General Winfield Scott
As the site for the soldiers home, but
some misunderstanding with the owners
arose, and the home was located on its
present site in the northeastern part of
the city.
Robert }. Walker, who was secretary
Of the treasury shortly before the civil
war, purchased the place and made some
additions to the old mansion, but his
heirs sold it about 20 years ago to s. f.
Middleton. Then Baltimore man pur-
chased it, and recently it passed into the
possession of Francis G.. Newlands. the
present owner, now congressman elect
from Nevada. Mr.. Newlands is the
millionaire who bought Oak View of
Mr.. Cleveland four years ago, making
for the president net profit of $1,000
On his original investment of $50. 1000.
Mr.. Newlands has made extensive re-
pairs about the old mansion since Mr..
Cleveland leased it, and it is now as neat
and attractive as a new house. The archi-
tectural design of the house was not
hanged in the least, but all the wood
work from cellar to roof was removed
ind new timber identical in shape and
size substituted. Fresh paint was aI-
piled wherever it was needed, and the
I'D walls were cleaned and frescoed or
papered inside, and the stucco outside
was renewed. New plumbing was put
in and system of steam heating intro
luced for use in the fall and winter if
he family should decide to remain until
the days get cool. Home comfort has
been observed in every detail, and the
arrangements have been made with a
view to SIMPLICITY and convenience.
A recerd .t:1tor to this country home
of the president described it as "a place
suggestive of comfort, ease and quiet.
blessed with an abundance of pure, fresh
.ir, Cheered with the warblings of count
tess singing birds. bathed here and there
IN the unohstructed sunshine, and again
supplied with grateful shade from its
wealth Of shrubbery and greenery. In
deed, he continued, 1T would be diff
cult to imagine country seat more de-
hghtful, whittier a president can take
refuge from the hot city and enjoy rest
and relaxation from the cares of state.
where the leading lady of the land can
find freedom and privacy from the try
ing social exactions of her position, or
where young children can grow strong
and merry in healthful gambols over the
lawn or in frolics under the trees and
lut in the sunny air" Amid such pleas
ant surroundings Mr.. and Mrs. Cleve-
and and Baby Ruth will make their
summer hop' during the next four wears