The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1906-10-21
ASTOR TURNS BACK
THE HANDS OF TIME
Millionaire Secretly Erecting Tu-
dor Village Adjoining His
Mediaeval Castle in Kent.
THE PROJECT VAST ONE
Plans Guarded From Public and
Police Employed to Keep
Off Trespassers.
THE PROJECT VAST ONE
LONDON Oct 90.

LONDON, Oct. 60
The strangest move in history is now
in active progress at Hever, in Kent
In this ancient village, to which King
Henry VIII so often Travelled to WOO the
Inflated Anne Boleyn, the spectacle may
be witnessed of the multi-millionaire, Mr.
William Waldorf Astor, experimenting
the installation Of his twentieth century
belongings in historic Hever Castle. and
the brand-new Tudor village he has built
in his private grounds about it.
It is only a millionaire who can thus
turn back the pages of history at Will,
and Mr.. Astor has succeeded in accom-
plishing a design that has, so far as effect
goes, defed time.
For three years more than a thousand
workmen have toiled to push back the
centuries, and now that the castle and
the Tudor village are ready for modern
use, Mr.. Astor is moving in
Vanloads Of furniture, supplied by the
most up-to-date firms, are being unloaded
by the drawbridge, and the latest re-
sources Of civilization, straight from Re
gent street and Bond street, are being
borne through the ancient portcUllis into
the echoing halls OF the old castle.
Mr.. Aston who is keenIy interested IN
every detail of the renovation and re-
mOval, has visited his Tudor village every
week, and has personally supervised the
work. When his furniture is all in ne
viii make it his permanent home.
Work in Secret.
Although Mr.. Astor and his workmen
have been so successful in Transforming
the Hever district so that villagers who
have lived there all their lives hardly rec
ognize it, he does not desire praise or pub
lefty All the work has been carried out
with the utmost secrecy, and permission
TO view the historic estate" is sternly
refused to all.
At present glimpses Of the famous cas-
tie and the quantity gabled village may be
caught from the road, but it is believed
that a high brick wall, similar to that at
Cliveden-Mr. Astor's late home on the
Thames-wil soon shut off even that view.
Notice boards proclaiming No admis-
sion" and "Trespassers viii be prOsecut-
ed" may be seen everywhere, while at
Hever railway station a picture of the
castle, once open TO the public, is hidden
under a printed paper announcing: This
castle is no longer open.
So vast are the landscape improvements
suggested, including. as they do. the d.
Vergence Of a river, the laying out Of for
ests and a deer park, and the planting OF
old-wOrld gardens. that few more
months viii still be necessary before the
Hever calendar is finally put back four
hundred years.
A Tudor Village.
The castle which MIR. Astor has bought
for his new home stands in a hollow, and
all round are Tudor buildings. TO construct
which the stock Of sixteenth century rel
les has been greatly depleted. These build
ings are not for the villagers. who are
casting enviOus eyes on them. but are con-
nected with the renovated castle. and are
intended as reception rooms, bill
lard rooms show places and homes for
the household servants, twenty Of whom
are expected to arrive soon, 10 prepare
for the castle warming" reception.
An entirely new odd bridge" has been
built over the river that winds past the
castle to fill the moat and the large lake
which has just been made. II is not on
Mr. AstOr's grounds, as the public road
runs there, but Mr.. AstOr had it included
in the general scheme at his own expense
10 complete the realism The stOneWork
and sides have been so constructed as to
appear centuries old, and artificial rocks
have been introduced to set off the river
bed at that point.
Up to the present, Mr.. Astor has invited
very few even Of his personal friends to
Inspect his Tudor village, which he intends
shall be a complete surprise to them
when they see ii all finished for the first
time.
, There is no modern note struck through
out the scattered hamlet of Hever. The
church on the hill at the corner Of the
Astor estate is 800 years old, and the vii
Iage inn, the King Henry VIII, and every
thing else in sight are all in perfect keep
ing with it.
Mr. AstOT. who is now a familiar figure
at Never. always drives behind horses,
"as in the days OF old" He viii have no
noisy modern motor cars to frighten away
the ghosts from his new "old estate"