The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-02-10
Up Stairs of Gold.

| Gold has been used in house decoration,
but here is something which in splend0r
| exceeds anything ever seen in an Ameri =
| can house-a gold plated railing. The rail-
/ ing of the spiral stairway and the bal
/ ccny in George J. GOuld's new house at
! Lakewood Will be plated with the most
| precious Of all metals, says the New York
| Herald
! Much has been written about the splen-
1 doris o. this palace which. the young mill
1 ionaire is building down there among the
! pines The foremost architects and art
| lists have contributed 10 it, but this stair
rail and balcony viii surpass anything Of
the kind ever attempted in this countrE.
There are legends Of palaces where the
soft light was reelected from lamps of
sold gold and shades of alabaster. This
dwelling down at Lakewood viii equal in
splendor the palaces described by the ro-
mancers who wrote the Arabian
Nights" Aladdin might have pictured
such hallway as that which forms the
entrance Of tie house at Lakewood No
slave of the lamp could have called int
being so splendid an apartment as the
hallway of this modern palace
There are many beautiful stair rails of
wrought and polished iron il the houses
Of New York's millionajres. Some OF
these rails have gold plated ornaments
The stair rail in the Gould house viii sur
pass al these, for it is gold plated from
the first step of the stairs TO the last
wreath of the balcony front.
In design the staircase itself is model
OF graceful architecture. There may be
seen in some Of the old New York houses
stairs which are similar 70 it. 1t used 10
be said that stair building was lost
art. The stairway in Mr.. Gould's house
is constant refutation Of this theory.
The race of stair builders has certainly
not become extinct if there are men who
can still design and build such marvels
of art. Even if the rail of this stairway
were not gold plated the light and airy
structure which leads to the second floor
Of the house at Lakewood would attract
the eye of the artist.
Workmen have been busy upon the stair
rail for several months, and it will be
a month longer before the rail will be
ready for the plating process. In design
this remarkable ornament OF the million
aires hallway closely follows the style of
Louis XIV. Bruce Price, the architect,
has not followed the style slavishly.
There are some variations which may be
noticed by the close student of architect
ure.
Both the rail of the stairs and the bal
cony along the second floor are the same
four classic pillars and the space between
these supports is filed with the graceful
railing There are four sections in the
balcony, all of the same design. The pan
els curve gracefully outward, and they
look not unlike the fronts of opera boxes,
except that the curve is not so marked
Garlands and torches are the principal
ornaments used.
There is no newell post at the bottom of
the stairs. The railing ends in a. rams
horn, after the manner of the ratings
of the Louis XIV. period. The general
design is wonderfully chaste and simple.
The gold plating will enhance it's classic
beauty.
Several skilled artisans are now devot-
ing their time to fashiOning the patterns
from block tin. The railing ill be cast
and plated at the foundry of the John
Williams Company, in West Twenty
seventh street. The various parts of the
design have been made of block tin. The
soft metal is placed upon a wooden form
and bent to the required curve. After this
model is completed a mould will be made
from it, and the ratings will be cast In |
brass. Then there will be the tedious pro-
cess Of cleaning and preparing the brass |
for plating.
This splendid ornament will cost thou |
sands of dollars. A Queen Anne cottage |
Of many rooms could be built for the price !
Of it. When it is placed in position the |
hallway of the house at Lakewood will re- |
mind one of the descriptions of the splen- |
doris of ancient palaces.