Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-04

mans, come down the mountain together
on that car.
Those of you who don't care for locomo-
ton Of that kind can take the winding car
riage road which Mr.. Hartman is building
around through the paths OF the noun
tain.
When Mr.. Hartman came there he found
nothing but a silent waste, a wilderness.
He has insured the preservation OF that
wilderness effect by securing to himself
5000 acres Of hills and valleys thereabout.
and nobody can Interfere with the solitary
grandeur OF the place unless the master
OF Tower hill becomes childish.
Biltmore, long famous as the greatest ex-
ample OF a great estate owned by a private
person in this country, will soon have TO
yield the palm to Tower hill. There is
probably no place in America where the
same sense of isolation, reinforced by the
presence Of nature az it's widest, can be
so balanced by luxury and beauty within.
The place which Mr.. Hartman selected
TO give this demonstration is rocky and
strewn with boulders and grit with forests.
The hill Is one OF the steepest in the
Ramapo range. Harriman's house is, Ike
that OF scripture. builded on a rock. and
literally so. A photograph recently taken
OF the east side of the house. moving
the operations so far conducted. looks as
II the whole thing were being blasted out
OF the side of a boulder.
A large share Of the grounds IL TO be
given over TO an Italian playground and
garden which will contrast oddly with
the solemn grandeur all about.
Big Enough for the Family.
The house Itself rests in a stone hollow.
and to make room for It the rock has had
10 be blasted on three sides. The building
Will contain seventy rooms, OF which
twenty-five are bath rooms. It is IN the
form of a cross, with the entrance hall in
the west wing. This hall is 50 by so feet in
size. The great living room. which Is in
the same wing, could be made into two or
three flats if subdivided.
Terraces, many of them. fall gracefully
away on the south side OF the house. A
great swimming pool and many sunken
courts TO be filled with flowers, and mar
bic fountains are among the many ad1rn-
Vents OF this house. which Hartman de-
MES is a palace. For the conveyance OF
everything needed in the mansion tunnels
are being constructed in every direction.
and, Of course, there are billiard parlors,
bowling alleys, and all sorts OF rooms
needed for amusement. together with a big
laundry a dynamo room. u drying room
and a large servans' quarter.
The Christopher Columbus OF Tower Hill
could not have found a place more thor
ougbly adapted for his purposes. Even the
villagers Of Arden have never taken the
trouble TO explore it fully. and II lay, when
he first viewed n, virgin from the hand
Of nature IL might have lain there for a
thousand years as untouched. unless some
other wealthy man had happened to light
upon it as Hartman did and for the same
purpose.
The cost Of 1t varies in estimate. Har-
riman will not tell Sometimes IL has
been put AS high as 100000. Those en-
gagged in the work say this Is an over
estimate. One put il as low as $4,000.
Two millions, say others. will cover ali.
But that over a million has been spent en-
IL there is no question. and II y NOT I'm
ished yet-New York TtmsG