Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1894-11-14

HOUSE WITH A QUEER HISTORY.
rost Million to Build anu Has Never Ye
Had an Occupant

HOUSE WITH A QUEER HISTORY.
cost . Million to Build ana Has Never Yo
Had an Occupant
Up on Fifth Avenue, New York,
acing Central ] ark, in one of the
most desirable es.dence regions of
the city, stands very large and e'e-
CANT house. which for five years has
been Of no earthly use to any living
being except the tax gatherer and
the solitary watchman to whom it
furnishes emp oyment, says the sun.
1t is an architectural failure on a
magnifit ent sea e. From the outside
1t looks like a house that would
meet the reluirments Of the most
eXacting. 1t is a four story, brown
stone building. with a frontage of 81
feet on Fifth avenue, and side ex-
tent Of $50 feet on Seventy-Four
street, on the southeast corner OF
VIII { h 1t stands. The stone OF the
house Is all cut cross grain, instead
Of straight, as brown stone Is usually
cut, and will not split or crumble.
1t was quarried to order for the
building. A fine front entrance,
large windows Of the finest plate
glass and many exterior ornamental.
tions make the building one Of the
most noticeable houses Oh the ave-
nue.. There is probably no other
house in the city so strongly bui t,
as the walls are from three to three
and a halt feet thick throughout.
Inside the house is completed, kept
the fres coing. Baths and closets are
all complete, sidelOards are built in,
the canvas for mural decorations
stands in rolls on the floor, ali the
fine work in paneling, staircases and
mosaic floors is the e, and all that Is
required to make the house perfectly
habitabIe IS the furnishing. There
Is a cellar and subcellar, fitted out
in the most approved way, and even
an artesian we'll to furnish power for
an organ. for which niche has been
built. The organ, the biggest ard
tireSt chamber organ ever made in
this country, is in a storage w.re-
house, where it has been for yea 5.
All this elegance belongs to Wilhelm
Pickhardt, a wealthy dea er in dyes
at 80 Liberty rect, who for the past
five years, that IS, e the bui d ng
Of the house, has live d abroad, tray el-
ing about Europe from capital t.
capital.
MIR. Pickhardt tou-h: the land or
which S house stands about twelve
years ago, and in lSSS he had plans
submitted to him the building of
4 house. His architect, who be-
lOnged to a prominent firm, had
carte blanche as regards expense, be-
ing instructed to have everyth ng Of
the very best. There were certlin
things, however, in rega:d to the
building, that Mr.. Plckhardt insisted
upon, despite the objections urged by
the architect When the house was
we'll advanced the owner went othe
architect one day and said to him:
There are some things about the
arrangement of the house that don
like" at the same time mentioning
some of them. Il want them
changed"
"But, Mr.. Pickhardt," remon,tra.,
ed the architect aghast, "th Sc
changes can't be ma! without build
ing the no. Sc over again. l have
followed your instructions Closely"
If the changes cant lie made
without rebuilding then I'll pull
Town the house and have it built
over" retu ned the owner "l'm go
ing to have his done as l want it II
it takes eIe y cent I've got"
The Jesuit OF the matter was that
The architect withdrew, and Mr..
Pickhardt replaced him with Ger
man named knaut, whom he brought
over from Germany for the work.
Knaut drew up elaborate plans, un-
did much Of the work that his PR de-
cessOr had done, returned to Ger
many for vacation and died.
Two years have already been con
,umed, and third went by before
an architect was found to suit Mr..
rickhardt Then the building was
Ie e;umed, but it proceeded slowly be-
cause of the frequent and impo. tant
alt rations insisted on by the owne-.
Finally, in 1889, when the architects
work was completed and all that re-
mainei to be done was the frescoing
and some minor decorations, Mr.
ickhardt experienced another re
vulson of feeling.
"The house isn't as l want IL at
all, he declared. 1T isn't what 1
intend it should be, and I'll never
live in it-never! I've thrown away
81, 900, 900 on it..
He went abroad and has spent the
major part Of his time since then in
Europe. The house has never been
occupied, for the owner would not
rent it, and the price demanded for
it is so high that it has found no pur-
chaser. Large taxes are paid on it,
and a watchman is hired to guard it.
1t seems likely that it will remain al
1t Is until the owners death.