1 ! 
H OLise and Garden 
ground. Entrance is made by way of a graceful 
porte-cochere, which is located at the south end of 
the house. 
Instead of several reception rooms, an office, and 
a dining hall, as is often found, the whole private 
part of the house is on the first floor. On this 
level will be the library, private reception, and draw¬ 
ing-rooms, private dining-rooms, and the sleeping 
chambers. A prominent feature of this floor will be a 
large library, located on the west side of the house. 
Adjoining this will be the private office of Mr. Bel¬ 
mont. The arrangement of the rooms is original and 
worked out with great care. 
The second floor will be reached by a grand stair¬ 
way, of a beautiful design, and constructed of marble 
and bronze. One of the most important features of 
the house, the picture gallery, eighty by thirty-three 
feet in dimensions, will be located on this floor. The 
only other rooms on the second floor will be the large 
dining-room, to be used for entertaining, the salon, 
and a circular reception-room. A pleasing feature 
in the plan of the second floor will be that the ar¬ 
rangement of rooms permits several vistas through 
the entire length of the house. The third floor will 
be given over to servants’ quarters. 
It is Mr. Belmont’s intention to bring to Washing¬ 
ton his entire collection of fine pictures which are now 
hung in his houses in New York and Newport. I'his 
collection was left him by his father, August Belmont, 
and is regarded as one of the finest in the country. 
The pictures will be hung in the gallery of his new 
residence. 
The designs for Mr. Belmont’s new home were 
made by E. Samson, the famous Paris architect, and 
will be the first work of Samson in this country. 
Surrounding the house there will be a narrow strip 
of parking, which will be made into a formal garden 
and laid out by Duchesne, of Paris. 
Detached houses in Washington are but few—a 
great majority of the best homes being built in 
blocks. There are but very few private gardens, 
efforts in that direction being confined chiefly to 
the broad parkings. Not infrequently, however, 
are the effects of softening sought by the use of ivy 
and some varieties keep green for the greater part of 
the winter. 
Not all of Washington’s population is of the 
millionaire class — smart set—who are centering 
in the city with social ambitions. Thousands of 
retired, well-to-do, business and professional men, 
army and navy officers, statesmen, etc., recogniz¬ 
ing the peculiarly favorable local conditions — the 
desirability of the city as a place of residence— 
are undoubtedly adding to the phenomenal growth 
of the National Capital. 
What Paris is to France, and what London is to 
England, the same will Washington soon be to the 
United States. 
ONE OF THE NUMEROUS PARKS IN THE RESIDENTIAL SECTIONS OF WASHINGTON 
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