House & Garden 
from the windows of not a single important 
room. 
A salon , library and dining-room are ranged 
in a suite along the south front of the house, 
and the wings extending northward accom¬ 
modate the entrance and smoking-room on 
the east and the kitchens upon the west. The 
inconspicuous entrance, without porte cochere 
and protected only by a marquise , its removed 
position upon the outside of the east wing, 
preserves the seclusion of the living-rooms. 
According with the French Renaissance of 
the exterior all the details within have been 
carefully studied. Corridors, doored with 
marble tiles, are walled with stone below a 
frieze decorated by painted rural scenes, and 
stairways are of wrought bronze. The sides of 
the principal rooms bear elaborate wainscots 
and pilasters reaching to high and richly orna¬ 
mented ceilings. All the furniture consists 
of beautiful pieces collected by an owner 
who yearly spends several months abroad. 
Though a great and interesting variety, it is 
entirely congruous to its surroundings. 
The artistic success of Bellefontaine is 
largely due to the intelligent use of materials. 
The exterior walls are laid with a local brick, 
made at Pittsfield, of a warm color, slightly 
more pinkish than the familiar Haverstraw 
product. The stone which appears in great 
quantity in each facade is a marble from the 
quarries at Lee. In order to save expense 
the second quality pieces were used,—the 
“ short ends ” and “ rough backs,”—and 
their irregular tones of color have happily 
saved the house from the formal stiffness 
usual whenever marble is employed. The 
views of steps and walls illustrated in this and 
our preceding article show how well the 
unstraightened pieces have lent themselves to 
the desired end. Upon the house a rough 
texture has been obtained by coarse tooling; 
and balusters have been putin place, showing 
all the marks of the lathe. In the outlying 
walls little mortar has been used, and the 
lower surfaces of copings have been left 
entirely rough so that the rectilinear features 
of the architecture have been softened to 
harmonize with the freedom of the planting. 
From these details about the house to the 
Florentine well in the centre of the vegetable 
garden near the road, close examination finds 
a perfect sympathy between these inanimate 
objects and their surroundings. 
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