Evening star., 1915-06-20
Gossip of Society.

Gossip Of Society.
| Mr. and Mrs Perry Belmont expect
to spend August at Newport prior to
| that time making
| Beautiful Home a series of visits
of the Belmonts. the e meantime
| their beautiful home on New Hampshire
avenue is being dsmantled and furniture
and pictures shrouded for the summer.
The peculiar construction of the Belmont
home makes this dismantling not so
trying as is usual in such work, for the
| family apartments are mostly on the
first floor, including the library. family
| dining room. etc. while the drawing
room, picture gallery and a big dining
| room for entertaining visitors are on the
| second floor.
The drawing room, directly over the
| front door, is replica of the Pala1s
| de Souise, where the archives OF the
city of Paris are kept, the only differ
enca being that. if anything, the Belmont
drawing room is 'handsomer. But most
| interesting, and to many the most artstlc,
| of the rooms in the Belmont home IS the
| large dining room, the ceiling OF which
was taken from the Grimany palace in
! Venice, the Grimany family being one
| which has furnished many doges to the
beautiful Italian city. The ceiling is In
masterpieces of frescong framed in
carved wood, as beautiful in its way as
the paintings. some of the handsomest
of the Renaissance period.
Adjoining this room is another one.
similar in shape, which has never yet
been decorated. This decoration is now
being done.
The Belmont mansion stands on
| triangular plot of ground at the inter-
section of New Hampshire avenue and
18th street and is like a f1at-iron in
shape. The entrance Is at the point,
| and the entrance hall is beautiful
corridor Of soft cream -colored French
sandstone, with grand stairway in
the center and on either side of it low
arched corridors leading back to the
library, where there is a most charm
ing portrait of Mr.. Belmont's mother:
and then on to the family dining room
and the service end of the building.
Underneath the central part Of the
entrance corridor Mr.. Belmont has
squ,a h ourt
SQUASH Court which, doubtless,
Under Corridor. the ~ suides % On the he
sightseeing automobiles announce each
are three stories underground to the
house: an interesting statement, but
which. like many other interesting
statements. is nto borne out in fact.
Running through the center of the
house Is the picture gallery, the paint
ings in which are an inheritance from
Mr.. Belmont's father, many of them
priceless old masters. Mr.. Belmont also
has in this house Interesting old
book, In which are the autographs of
all the visitors to the Belmont picture
gallery when this gallery was in New
York at the time of the civil war. Mr.
Belmont, sr.. threw open his gallery for
the benefit Of the war sufferers of that
day, every one who bought ticket
signing his or her name: and the re-
suit Is an interesting collection of au-
tographs of people of those days.
Opening from the gallery at one end
is the large dining room for entertain
ing, and from the other end of the gall
lery opens the new apartment, which
Is now being put in order. decorated
and furnished for the first time. The
dining room overlooks New Hampshire
avenue. and the new apartment over
looks 18th street, and all the work is
being done from the street side, the
doorway to the picture gallery being
boarded up. This room is to be fur
nished and decorated in the period of
Louis XVI. The mural decorations are
to be frescoes by Pillement, the famous
painter Of that time. shadowy, delicate
designs of birds and flowers
Washington is accustomed to saving
farewell to it's friends In the diplomatic
corps, who are
Col. Vignals Return sometimes no
Pleases Friends. spo'er spa ill.,. Ano"n .s"n II
an unfeeling foreign office whisks them
off to another post. but sometimes So
ciety has the good fortune to welcome
an old friend or two back into it's
ranks, and such is the case with the
newly arrived military attache Of the
French emba ssy Col. Vignal He has
served here before military attache.
Col. Vignal has taken up his abode
at the Highlands apartment house,
where he will be Joined in about
month by Nine. Vignal. When they
were here before they had a home on
street not far from Dupont Circle,
where they entertained in a quiet, but
delightful, manner, giving frequent in
formal dinner parties, where ten or a
dozen guests would be entertained and
given a glimpse of true French hos
pttality, for Col. and Nine. Vignal are
typical of the class of modest, gen.
erous. home-loving people who make
up the bulk of the French nation.
There Is a little balcony on the home
OF Col. and Mrs. Symons on New Hamp-
shire avenue
Col. Symons' and this Mrs,
Symons and Miss
Cunning Balcony. symons are put
ting to good use. They have had an
awning put over it, and with some
gayly fowered chintz cushions are pre-
pared to spend comfortable afternoons
and evenings right on the street. as it