Ex-President Hayes' Home, from the West. 



THE HOMES OF HAYES AND GARFIELD. 



this stage of American development it 

 might be difficult to agi'ee as to what con- 

 l \ stitutes a typical American home. The 

 architect, the landscape gardener and the 

 florist have worked in harmony to erect homes that 

 fairly rival the famous "show" places of England, 

 and that speak well for the broad culture and lib- 

 erality of the owners. Yet these cannot be called 

 typical, for the wealth which creates them must 

 always be exceptional, even in a country where 

 wealth accumulates as it now does here. 



In our cities the exigencies of circumstances, the 

 constraints of space, and the compulsory abandon- 

 ment of individuality make it incumbent upon us to 

 look farther afield for a home that may stand as a 

 synonym of the American character. The main 

 attributes of this character are sturdy manliness, 

 independence, completeness, and the absence of 

 superficial veneering. 



It seems especially fortunate that a home em- 

 bracing these types should be occupied by a man 



who has been the chief executive of our nation. 

 The home of a president becomes an object of in- 

 terest to the whole people irrespective of party, and 

 often almost a mecca to the traveler and tourist. 

 There is a laudable desire, which is something more 

 than mere curiosity, to know how the man, who is, 

 or has been the president is housed, and what are 

 his surroundings are. 



Spiegel Grove I am inclined to characterize as 

 typical ; if not wholly so it is at least a good exam- 

 ple of what an American home should be. Let us 

 pause a moment at the name, however, before we 

 enter its hospitable portals. The builder of the 

 place, the uncle of ex- President Hayes, designed 

 that the name should suggest, in some degree, the 

 "good cheer" that he hoped would abide there 

 with him and with those who should come after. It 

 requires a somewhat free rendering of the German 

 word to wrest this meaning from it, but that the 

 wish of the founder has borne fruit is amply testi- 

 fied ; the gates are never closed ; friends and stran- 



