102 AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDEWS 
A Great Fireplace, in which a Man Can Stand, Separates 
the Alcove from the Living-Room 
The stone of which “Myntoon” is constructed was 
quarried near-by, and is a bluish gray lava, common to the 
locality, a stone of enduring quality and fine texture. The 
massive timbers were felled upon the estate and shaped in a 
neighboring sawmill. The walls are massive in fact as in 
appearance, and the impression of great strength is fully 
borne out in construction as suitable to the character of an 
edifice representative of great qualities for defense. ‘The 
buttresses are designed to accentuate the solidity of the struc- 
ture as well as to give stiffness to the walls, tower and roof. As 
it was impossible to have the modern porch without creating 
opposition to the prejudices of the higher senses, this archi- 
tectural feature was dispensed with and medieval substitutes 
adopted, hence the entrance loggia, outer stairs, terrace to 
dining-room, ete. 
Crowning walls on tower and main building with project- 
ing attic was architecturally necessary owing to the occasional 
immense snowfalls, many feet deep, which if not provided 
for would crush roofs not protected against such an emer- 
gency. ‘lo harmonize the tints of the building with the en- 
vironment, and to create a color scheme in unison with the 
gray of the Shasta forest, bright red for the tiles was mani- 
festly too brilliant and glaring. A green, glazed tile were 
selected, and as they were not to be had in this country were 
especially manufactured in Holland. The temporary bridge 
spanning the McCloud River in the foreground is to be re- 
placed by a stone arch 100 feet in length. 
To impart a medieval type to the exterior of the castle 
was a task easy enough for the designer, whose difficulty lay 
in the successful treatment of the interior, and to create, as a 
whole, an impression of absolute harmony both without and 
within. In this respect a notable success was attained. The 
great living-room is the principal feature of the interior and 
is 80x36 feet in dimensions and 36 feet high to the apex of 
the roof. ‘The walls of stone, where the buttresses join, are 
February, 1906 
7 feet thick. The timber construction is without ties. On 
the west is the alcove, lighted by a great stained glass window 
of thirteenth century design, and fabricated in Holland. Be- 
tween the alcove and the living-room is a great fireplace, with 
an opening in which a full grown man can stand upright. The 
room is the chapel of the ancient castle, but the altar is re- 
placed by the fireplace. The west end of the room has its 
fireplace also. The hangings are tapestry, of antique design, 
and, as in earlier periods, serve to conceal the stone walls 
and to add to the medieval atmosphere of the apartment. 
The chandelier of the room is Gothic in pattern. The 
dining-room follows closely the living-room in general effect, 
and has also a double fireplace. The tables stand against 
the walls, the guests sitting on benches. ‘The furniture in 
all the rooms is Gothic. 
The kitchen wing is approached from the dining-room 
through the butler’s hall, and is spacious and well appointed. 
Its dimensions are 40x40 feet and include a room for the 
servants. It is entered from the outside through a porte- 
coulisse and stairway. This wing has a foundation of rubble 
stone. ‘The upper construction is one-half each, stone and 
rubble, and is surmounted by an attic of light-gray slate. 
The cellar extends under the entire main building to a 
depth of 15 feet and contains storeroom for various pur- 
poses and the steam heating apparatus for the castle. A rear 
entrance porch gives access. ‘he entire structure presents a 
fair idea of conditions in the feudal period before forests 
had disappeared from European countries. A critic has 
found fault with the prominence of the kitchen wing, but 
this will be modified with the growth of shrubbery. The 
pain and sorrow of the feudal age is not depicted, but all 
else is so interwoven with the forest that the influence the 
structure wields leaves the mind and body healthier for hay- 
ing been a guest at ‘““Myntoon.”’ ‘The architects of this in- 
teresting structure are Maybeck and White, San Francisco. 
The Chief Feature of the Exterior is a Central Tower 
Seventy-Five Feet in Height 
