The Wilmington morning star., 1940-03-18
Man bout

Nv GEORGE Tucker

NEW YORK, March IT, For q
s,,v u,bo has a burning thirst o
size .nd who thinks of living space
in terms of warehouses and regf-
mental armories, Billy Rose mas
shown considerable restraint Il
choosing a. home for his bride. 1t
is a modest 14-room chateau built
entirely Of imported Dutch brick
and is located at No. 80 Beekman
place over on the East river.
The little Midas picked it for a
mere $4,000 cash, and while it
isn't what he originally had In
mind. IT is, as he says, at least a roof
over their heads.
For a while he thought Of taking
a 40.room lodge he found on a
mountain top near Tarrytown, N.
Y, but decided against it when
someone pointed out how far Tarry'
town was from Lindy's.
W. shouldn't go running Oft to
the country anyway" the master
says philosophically. ct would get
50 lonesome out there Eleanor and
I might throw each other off q
cliff"
This new house, from the Rose
point of view, has only one defect.
When he strolls to the broad bay
windows and throws aside the cur.
tains he finds that Billy Leeds
yacht, which ties up there, ruins
his view of the lovely muddy wa
tiers of the river.
But for those who can discipline
themselves away from river-yistas,
there are compromising distractions.
Rose has turned No. SO Beekman
Place into a sort Of personal mu.
scum of art masterpieces and for a
man who makes his money out of
tigers and elephants the taste is ex
emplary.
He has a fine 18th century can.
a by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and at
least four excellent studies by the
0lA L lCAAl1ol A4ldSLC1S, VI VI W44CA4
is a knight by Van Dyke. There
are also paintings by Derain, the
modern French painter, and one by
Puga, a pupil of the Spaniard
Valesquez. There is, finally, a por-
traiture oddly by Modigliani, a
study Of Jean Cocteau, the French
acknowledgements, and it is a
face of such frightening aspect that
when Eleanor Holm saw it she
burst into tears and said she would
not stay in the same house with it.
Only by swearing to hide it in his
own private room was Billy able to
placate her. After seeing the por.
trait, n has the bunch that maybe
the logic was all on Eleanor's side.
Modigliani's Cocteau is a weird
thing with cross eyes and a neck
like a wan.
The house itself blossoms around
a magnificent Adams spiraling stair.
way. The dining room is in English
paneling, with an open fire and
mantel effects in porcelain and jade
ASh SoAAS AAOui 1Idly o1lu 1ISS
dustan. John Murray Anderson,
who produces all Of Billy's extrava-
ganzas, including his new Aquacade,
which will open this year on May
IL. was stunned by it. None Of
your friends will fit in here. Billy"
he warned, unless you give them
powdered wigs and satin britches."
Billy's W room, compared to the
lavish guest rooms, and Mrs. Roses
private boudoir, is a mere monks
cell. Besides a desk in the French
Empire style, a bed, and the portrait
Of Cocteau there is nothing. Those
guest beds, by the way, are only
13 inches high, but any of them
would sleep the Marx Bros. and
Primo Camera.
In sum, life on the East river nay
not be as exciting as Mark Twain
pictured it on the Mississippi, but it
Is a darned sight more comfortable.
How would you like to live in a
house where You could wake up
every morning, stick your foot out
from under the covers and nudge
a Rembrandt with your big toe?