The Norfolk weekly news-journal. (Norfolk, Neb.) 1900-19??, 1909-07-23
HARR|MAN'S -
MOUNTAIN HOME,
Features OF Mansion on Ramapo
Range at Arden, N. Y.
BUILT IN FORM OF A CROSS.
Railway Masnete's Country Estate
viii Be One Of the Most Remarkable
In North Anerios-Mansion win
Contain Seventy Rooms.

1t was once said of II. II. Hartman
by an attorney as skilled In the rules
Of the game of law as the great trans
portation king V in the complex shift
Ing OF blocks of bonds and stocks that
represent his title to more miles of
railway than one man ever dominated
before that Mr.. Hartman, who Is tho
president of the Union Pacific railway,
moved on a plane and In an atmos-
phere so altitudinous that no ordinary
mortal might hope to do more than
contemplate his eminence from afnr.
That WINS true In fgurative sense
perhaps when 1t was announced-a at
any rate, the aduiatory attorney mp
penred to think II was-but now II Is
about to become literally true, so far
as Mr.. Harrimans home in the coun-
try Is concerned.
His house on the top Of one Of the
mountains Of the Ramapo range at Ar
den, N. Y. is on such height and sur
rounded by so many leagues of path
less forest that are his by right OF pur-
chase that he can dwell there, II he
chooses, In an isolation so splendid as
to be incompatible with that enjoyed
by any other American multlmillion-
aire. 1t Is doubtful II Mr.. Hartman
In his wanderings over continental Eu-
rope this summer will see any castle
that can equal his in It's majesty Of
view and aloofness from. yet geograph-
ical nearness to, vast center Of popu-
lation. .. 'r,srn,. -.p
The Hartman home at Arden has
been building for nearly three years,
and when he went abroad recently he
left orders that It must be ready for
his occupancy when he returns In the
early autumn, that no expense was to
be spared, that the work must be push
ed forward night and day II necessary,
but that 1t must be finished.
The Hartman house Mt Arden con-
forms to the rules Of no style Of archi-
lecture except the rectangular school.
The dormer windows in the attic roof
are moro English In their design than
anything else. That Is the only feature
to which any architectural nationality
can be assigned. 1t looks more like IN
attempt to reproduce In stone on
large and modernized scale some old
New England farmhouse. 1t Is un.
dOubtedly designed more for use and
comfort than for anything else. 1t
containr seventy rooms, and twenty
two of these are bathrooms.
1t 1" Suilt of gray stone with trim
mings Of sandstone and Is In the form
of cross. The entrance hall Is In
the west wing. This hall is thirty feet
wide and fifty feet long. A New York
city lot Is twenty-five feet wide, so
the spaciousness of this great entrance
hall may be judged by that Off Of
this is the big living room, chamber
so large that 1t could easily contain
the floor space of the average seven
room, two thousand dollar uptown fiat
without crowding. The other rooms
are DropOrtionately spacious. The
windows on the first floor especially
are large, some Of them exceptionally
so. The last year or two Mr.. Harri-
man has had passion for an abun.
dance of air and sunlight. and one can
easily imagine him going over the
architects plans and telling hin, In
spite Of his protests that II would mar
the harmony Of the exterior, that GER
tain windows must be double the
width that he had indicated in his
drawings.
Set on the apex Of one Of the high
est and steepest mountains of the
Ramapos, the land originally sloped
abruptly away from the site Of the
house. The art of the landscape art
lists has broken and softened these
declivities by the formation OF a Sc
ries Of terraces. Many Of them had to
be blasted out Of solid rock and their
sharp outlines smoothed over with
earth and turf, so that now the once
rugged outlines Of the bowlder strewn
hilltop are graceful In their descent to
the edge of the forest. In other places
the terraces rise vertically from the
edge Of cliff.
Hard by the house Is a great swim
ming pool of stone and cement. a bath
whose size even Caesar or Caracalla
might have envied had Hartman lived
In Rome In their day and built his pal
ace there. About the grounds. too, are
many sunken courts that I'm summer
Will be filled with flowers. Through
the green shrubbery Will shine the
whiteness OF marble statuary, and cool
fountains In the courtyards and Ital-
ian gardens Will plash and whisper all
night long In midsummer when the cit
les on the lowlands toward the sea are
swathed IN torrid, humid air.
Beneath this commonplace looking
is network OF tunnels for
the passage OF servants. the convey
nnce OF everything needed. Some are
equipped with little electric tramways
for the whisking of things to and fro. |
Everything contributing to comfort
that the skill OF the mechanical en-.
elnecr could adapt to use In q dwell |
Ing has been installed. Human hand |
service has been supplemented every
where so far as possible. by steam,
electricity and compressed air. For |
Indoor amusement there are billiard |
parlors and bowling alleys enough for |
the entertainment OF all the guests the |
house can hold