AMERICAN ESTATES AND GARDENS 



walls are paneled in wood, enclosing large paintings of rural life, the cornice being supported 

 by pilasters with gilded capitals. The fireplace is beautifully detailed, and has a built-in mirror 

 with festooned frame above it. Over the doors are arched panels, with carved decoration 

 of foliage. The floor, as in the other two great rooms, is almost completely covered with 

 a magnificent rug. 



Of the other rooms of the house, it is only necessary to refer to Mr. Foster's own room, 

 which opens immediately from the rotunda, the doorway to which is enclosed within a superb 

 old Italian door frame of carved wood. It is a beavitiful square apartment, richly furnished, 

 and with an old Italian mantel, above which is an old Italian mirror in a splendid frame, gilded 

 and carved, and surrounded with paintings in medallions. 



The superb situation of the house is almost without parallel. A long, winding drive through 

 the forest brings one to a turn, below which is the magnificent fountain to which the place owes 

 its name. The contrast between the thick woods and the open house space is quite startling, 

 and the effect is heightened by the lavish enrichment of the grounds and the costly works of 

 art that are used in their decoration. The drive divides in two above the head of the fountain, 

 and is continued down on either side to a drive across the north front of the house, by which the 



BELLEFONTAINE"— THE FOUNTAIN IN THE COURT. 



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