Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-03
STATELY HOMES
PRIVATE PALACES THAT RE-
QUIRE FORTUNES TO MAINTAIN.
Devonshire's Seven Great Houses-The
Expense of Blenheim Palace, MARI
borough's Country Seat.
From London Tit-Blts.

from London 1ft-BtS-
1t is pathetic fact that there are several
men in the united kingdom who would con-
slider themselves the brink of bank
ruptcy If they were reduced by any evil
stroke Of fate to a mere pittance of f1.OOO
a week-who would find 1t simply impossi.
BILE to rub along anyhow on the income Of
a simple millionaire, which would be barely
sufficient in some cases to pay the ex-
penses of the lordly pleasure houses which
they have inherited from their ancestors
The Duke Of Devonshire for example,
has no fewer than seven of these stately
homes-six in England and one in Ireland
each of them fit for the reception of a king
and not one Of which. as he confessed the
other day, he has yet lived in long enough
to explore thoroughly. Probably he himself
does not know within G1.OOO how much
these palatial homes cost yearly to main
tain. but the annual cost has been said to
make very big hoe in f100,OOO
In Wentworth Woodhouse which is only
one of his four palaces, Lord FitZWilliam
owns the largest private house in England
1t has a frontage of GOO feet. it's hall is so
enormous that four suburban villas could
be built inside it. and it's owner could live
in different room every day for six weeks
and still leave several rooms unseen. The
Duke of Portland owns FIVE regal homes
in England and Scotland, the value of
which runs into millions. and which, with
the attached gardens and estates keep
hundreds Of servants employed. At We'll
beck he has over thirty acres of kitchen
gardens alone; in the glasshouses and gar
den proper he employs about seventy men
and boys. and his horticultural bill for this
one house is said to exceed $4,000 a year.
Blenheim Palace.
Blenheim palace, the Duke of Marlbor-
ough's Oxford seat. is so colossal that the
late duke used to declare he spent GS0O
year on putty alone for his window panes.
1t actually cost 93OO0OO to build, in days
when money was more valuable than it is
today: 1t is 3iS feet long, has fifteen stair
cases. and when it was repaired some time
ago his grace found it necessary to sell
his pictures and books to pay the cost,
which amounted to more than f3O0.OO0
The Duke of Northumberland owns five
stately seats at alone of which-SyOn
house. Brentford-a staff of thirty or forty
men is kept busy, largely in the magnifi-
cent kitchen. garden and lighthouses. And
yet the duke spends only a small portion Of
the year in this princely home. the rental
value Of which probably exceeds the lord
chancellor's official income.
The Marquis of Butte has five seats In
England Scotland and Wales and one of
them. Mountstuart. Rothesay, covers an
acre of ground has $50 rooms and has ac-
even at a modest per cent. value Of
ESQ 600 year. One can easily understand
that his lordship's income of s23O.O0o a
year is not a penny too much for the de-
mand of it.
Lord Londonderry's Seats.
OF Lord Londonderry's four seats. Wynn
yard park (Stockton-on-Tees) Is 100 yards
long and boasts a sculpture gallery 100 feet
long and So feet high. while Goodwood, one
of the Duke of Richmond's four mansions,
measures. with its two wings. 37S feet, and
requires about sixty domestics to keep it in
order.
Castle Howard. the splendid Yorkshire
seat of Lord Carlisle has 125 rooms; Raby
castle stands on two acres: Stafford house,
the town residence of the Duke of Suther-
land, gives employment to some sixty serv-
ants and costs about 100000 a year to keep
going and Eaton hall cost over Ell 900 OOO
to build
Such are but few of the stately homes
of England some of which are not seen
by their lordly owners for more than a few
weeks, If at all. in a year, although each
of them costs many thousands a year to
maintain.
Wages and Servants.
1t is said that there are at least sixty
country houses in the United Kingdom
which require a staff of from go to 500
servants and involve an annual bill for
wages ranging up to 100000. and in many
of them the gardens alone account for more
than $4,000 a year. How large are the
numbers of servants employed in connection
with these houses, and estates is shown by
the following eXample-that of a relatively
modest establishment in Suffolk. The total
number of servants employed is 173, and of
these the home farm and stables require "a,
and the garden 40; indoor servants number
and lakes employ 10; the brick kilns. 8,
while there are carpenters, bricklayers,
warreners. lodge keepers, painters.
and half a dozen engineers, blacksmiths
and wheelwrightS
This. 1t should be remembered, is but
second-class establishment. although it's
wages bill reaches $4,000 a year. OF still
smaller establishments there are about 600
In the United Kingdom employing between