AMERICAN ESTATES AND GARDENS 



that again the highest roof of all, emphasized with the richest dormer of the series. The garden 

 front has a loggia of five delicate arches connecting the two wings, and is surrounded with 

 a balustraded and stepped approach, which is continued on the two adjoining sides of the house. 



The stately hall is almost without parallel among the palatial rooms of great American 

 palaces. It is monumental in size, and designed and decorated in a monumental manner. It 

 consists of two parts: an outer hall, which is entered directly from the main doorway, and 

 which contains, on one side, the stairway, built of stone and carried on arches; and an inner 

 or main hall, which is purely decorative in purpose. It is three stories in height, built of Caen 

 stone, plain below, with paneled arches and pilasters, very refined in design and beautifully 

 chiseled. The second story is a superb arcade, decorated in every part, having round arches 

 carried on piers, all minutely carved and paneled, with delicate slender outer columns and 

 a band of rich panels above. These arches open on to a gallery which runs entirely around 

 the hall. The third story is also open, with low round arches; those on the sides opening into 

 the cove which supports the gently curved ceiling, while those at the end are cut into the wall. 

 There is rich sculpture here, with groups and single figures in the end spandrels, and single 

 figures upholding the uppermost cornice on the sides. A large painting fills the entire center 

 of the vault, save where it is paneled at each end. 



The sumptuous note that is struck by this magnificent hall dominates the whole house. 

 The dining-room is a rich apartment, with pilasters and paneled walls, having paintings let into 

 the architectural framework, and a painted ceiling. The fireplace is double, with an elab- 

 orately carved shelf, above which is an oval mirror. The library, which overlooks the cliff, 

 has been finished in the Louis XVI. style in oak and gold. The walls are entirely paneled, 

 with a decorated cornice that supports a plain ceiling. The rooms are spacious in size, and 

 richly furnished in keeping with the especial styles in which they are designed. 



"The Elms," the House of E. J. Berwind, Esq. 



"The Elms," the house of E. J. Berwind, Esq., is a very recent addition to the great 

 houses of Newport, and is much later in date than any of those already described. It 

 is stately in design, and is in the sumptuous Renaissance style which has become a favorite 

 vogue in residences of this class. The house is of generous size, broadly treated; the horizontal 

 lines are well marked, and the windows large. The central part, projected just sufficiently to 

 mark the entrance and to emphasize it, is well conceived and well carried out. The rising 

 ground on which it is placed adds materially to its dignity. 



That the interior is ornate the exterior has already told us. No one builds a house 

 of this design in such a place without preparing for greater sumptuousness within than 

 may be discerned without. One naturally lavishes decorations on an interior that one refrains 

 from exposing to the vulgar eye outside. The inside of the house is, therefore, very much 

 more splendid than the splendid outside. Broad corridors, lofty ceilings, large rooms, gilding, 



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