Mrs. A. Cass Canfield's House 



Roslyn, New York 



RS. CANFIELD'S house is a building of vast size, all of brick, red with spots of 

 black, presenting a stately spreading front, and so pleasantly environed with lofty 

 forest trees as to seem to be just the sort of house one might naturally look for in 

 this lovely spot. It consists of a large central building, three stories in height, with 

 long wings on either side, of two stories. Its proportions are dignified in the extreme, the 

 whole front being of great length, while the additional height in the central part adds very 

 materially in the majestic effect. It is a front that depends very largely on its dimensions, 

 and these are so generous and good as to give it at once a distinction wholly its own. The 

 single note of ornament is the main doorway — pilasters supporting a broken curved pediment. 

 The window openings are bricked over with a small stone keystone, and the cornice, both of 

 the center and the wings, is surmounted by a balustrade. So much skill has been displayed in 

 disposition of the parts forming this front, the masses of the^ building are so well composed 

 the proportions so good, the spacing of the windows so clever, and the ornamental features so 

 admirably handled, that it is, as a whole, a front of quite penetrating attractiveness. 



A spacious platform, paved with brick, and reached by stone steps, and to which bay 

 trees in great pottery jars give a pleasant note of color, forms the approach to the main door- 

 way. The entrance hall is rectangular; it is white, with pilasters on the wall immediately in 

 front, on which hangs a superb tapestry; rare old light standards are fastened on either side. 

 On each side of the entrance is a recess with a window. To the right is a separate hall contain- 

 ing the main stairway, and then, beyond a tapestried curtain, is the guest wing, the whole of 

 the right wing, both on this floor and the floor above, being given up to guest rooms. These 

 are charming apartments, beautifully furnished, the walls paneled and covered with fabrics of 

 delicate colors, and the rooms arranged in suites, with their attendant bathrooms. Just inside 

 the door is a sitting-room in green for the bachelors, who are lodged on the first floor. A 

 separate stairway to the upper floor and a separate entrance on to the main front render this 

 wing entirely independent of the other parts of the house, from which, if need be, it can be 

 wholly cut off. 



The wing to the left is arranged in a similar manner, and, with its own entrance and 

 stairs, can be similarly isolated. This part of the house is especially given up to the children, 

 with a children's dining-room on the first floor, beyond which are the kitchen, the servants' 

 hall, the pantries, serving-rooms, and other service apartments. The upper floor is the 



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