“ Wildhurst ” 
The entire house is well lighted with gas supplied 
by an acetylene plant which is situated at the back 
between the house and the stables. Lamps and 
candles are also used for the purpose of decoration. 
Approached 
through a short 
covered passage 
from the porch at 
the south end of the 
house is the billiard 
room and bowling 
alley, over which is 
a large room fitted 
up as a sort of dor¬ 
mitory for the over¬ 
flow of guests, for 
these hospitable 
folk believe in shar¬ 
ing their charming 
home with as many 
of their friends as 
they can and as often as possible. It is seldom 
that they have not from one to half a dozen 
guests with them, and their invitations never go 
a-begging. 
I bis house throughout is most substantially built, 
combining those qualities which give the greatest 
warmth in winter and the greatest coolness in sum¬ 
mer. The floorings of the main floor and the second 
floor are of hard wood, covered with rugs; the walls 
are thick and well sealed; the doors are heavy and 
tight fitting. On a winter’s night, though the 
thermometer drop to zero, and the wind howls its 
best, one can laugh at it as he sits in front of a roar¬ 
ing fire in the great open fireplace of the cheery hall 
and be perfectly content to let it do its worst. Yet, 
on a summer’s day when the mercury is climbing up 
into the eighties and nineties one may still be com¬ 
fortable in that same hallway, with both front and 
back doors open, allowing a breeze to circulate freely 
through the length 
of it. 
The writer’s pen, 
even with the assis¬ 
tance given by the 
photographs, 
seems inadequate 
to convey a com- 
plete idea of the 
beauties and com¬ 
forts of this most 
homelike, delight¬ 
ful and practically 
successful f a r m 
and the home life 
of its occupants. 
What this man has 
so perfectly accomplished may be emulated on even 
less expensive lines, as farmhouses and farm lands 
can be bought for from two to ten thousand dol¬ 
lars. The house may require to be somewhat 
remodelled to suit the taste of the purchaser and to 
make an ideal home. That a farm can, with little 
trouble, be made to pay for itself in a short time has 
been proven, and, with proper management, may 
even pay a very respectable interest on the original 
investment, and this while the owner is devoting 
most of his time to other business interests. The 
same cannot be said of a home in the city. 
Is this not better than passing one’s life shut be¬ 
tween brick walls in the city? The writer, at least, 
thinks it is. 
THE “WILDHURST” BARN 
