The morning call., 1894-11-04
AT MALMAlSON.
The Home of the Empress
Josephine.
IT IS ALMOST A RUIN NOW
There Are Many Reminders of the
Days of the First
Empire.

PARIS, Oct. 20. 1S94-Oaly a few years
ago Count di Bari, brother of the ex-King
of Naples, bought for a summer residence
Little Malmaison." dependence of the
chateau rendered so famous by Josephine
and Napoleon l.
Little Malmaison" is a very long, low
building that in America would be called
one and a half stored. 1t resembles a
POmpeiian villa. and in the garden jose
phine built hothouses. collected wonderful!
plants, and amused herself by pruning
leaves and cultivatng flowers.
The long gallery and the dining-room,
with its marble columns. are magnificent;
here are still seen the bas-reliefS that date
from NAPOLEON, and in the garden is the
pedestal upon which stood The Temple
OF Love"
Prince Eugene Of Beauharnais engraved
on this pedestal the letter L, the initial Of
his own name. In this garden also is
eXtant the gate through which passed
Napoleon l when, after Waterloo, he lett
LA Malmaison for Rochefort. where he de-
livered himself 10 the English and en-
baTked on the Bellerophou for St Helena.
1t is now rumOred tnat JosephiDe's home,
the Castle of La Malmaison itself. is 10 be
sold. IL is not yet known whether it will
be purchased for 4 private residence or
whether it is 10 become national museum,
Offering to public view pictures, furniture
and artistic objects of the time.
Napoleon is certainly the great hero OF
the present dav, and now is tbe moment
10 carry into effect such a project. | we'll
remember when the castle of La MaImai-
son was offered for sale at 1000, but not
4 purchaser could be found. The court
yard and garden sides OF the building are
intact. but the interior - gioOmy-a mel
anchOly wreck. The furniture is all gone.
| Some Of it, JOsephine's bed. for instance,
is at TriaD0n; some of 1t was carried 10
the house of Don Aniceto Arce. when he
became Bolivian Minister in Paris.
The castle is composed OF ground floor
and second story; one enters porch.
similar to tent; then an immense vesti-
bule, wide as the house. This vestibule is
supported by four stuccO columns, and
divides the ground floor in two portions.
Al the right is the billiard-roOm, a large
! and small drawIDE-rOOm. As in her time,
J the walls Of J0sephine's salon are decor
ated with birds aud flowers; hut the mas
terpieces, like THE Dansense" and Paris"
of Caaova, are in foreign museums.
At the left is the dining-rGOm, with
| still something of the military aspect
! given by Percier. There are also portraits
| of Josephine and a marble semicircle in
| the flor 10 dennle heI ! lace at table. Next
| comes the council chamber with the allie
gorica figures 10 grlsaIle, due 10 the brush
of Laffittc; then the library, Ornsmenied
with columns and shelves of mahogany.
In the second story one sees Bona parties
! narrow, simple room ana osephine'S large
| oblong sleeping apartment with It's faded
whita and gold decorations. Hortense's
! apartment consists of salon and bedroom,
! and following this are a number of small
rooms for the officers and guests. / re-
member the first time visited La Maimai-
! son. The porter had been contemporary
with one OF JOsephine's servants twenty
six years. and / said, Poor, unhappy, de-
serted JnSephinep
''Why pity her so much? She was far
/ from being deserted. Napoleon was with
/ her every day. There is The kiosk. where
! she embroidered. as lie studied his charts
! tAere is the gate through which he came
! from Saint Cloud; there is the window
/ from which she watched him return TO
/ Marie Louise, and here is where she first
saw the baby King of Rome. For you
must have heard fhat the Emperor brought
the child secretly to La Malmaison so that
Josephine might be among the first TO see
! it,"
La MalmaisoD, so piciureSQuely situated
between two arms of the Seine, at the foot
/ OF Mount Valerien, is a souvenir of the
! Norman conquest The piratical Normans
saw that this spot. between Saint Denis
and MaIly. was especially adapted for
their Harding place. and each time they ap-
peared desolatlOn and ruin followed in
/ their footsteps
This is the reason for the name, Ma!a-
mansiU. or Malmaison. In 1924 the domain
was only a farm, one Of the proper les OF
| the Abbey of 81. Denis, but in 1922 Chris
| toDhe PerrOt built the castle, and after
ward 1t became the property of the Barren