Modern Luxury.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLIV, Issue 6, 9 February 1910, Page 63

Modern Luxury.

MOST BEAUTIFUL HOUSE IN THE WORLD.

- Marble House, Newport, New York, represents in the eyes of practically every artist and art student’ the culmination of the life work of that great architect Kiohard Morris Hunt. He was commiseioned to design and build the house by its present owner, Mrs. Belmont’, an American heiress, and in every step of the work he advised with the lady, who had all her life been a careful student of architecture. Also nearly all the art treasures collected beneath the roof of Marble House were gathered by her abroad in accordance with the comprehensive plan which she had mapped out after much thought and study. Mrs. Belmont, the latest notable convert to Women’s Suffrage, has thrown open the manion for inspection to raise money for the cause. Never before has this treasure of art, unequalled in America, and noted throughout the world, been opened to the public. Painters, architests, designers, artists, and lovers ot the artistic from all parts of America, as well as England and Europe, have signified their deep interest in the opportunity thus afforded. The exterior of Marble House is of Tuckahoe marble, with the exception of the carvings of the bas-reliefs. These are in Carrara marble, especially transported from Italy, the other stone having been too hard for successful sculpturing. For two years artists worked on these basreliefs, sheltered in special studios which were erected' in Newport. The central figure over the front entrance portrays Venus rising from the sea. The clay models after which the great capitals of the Corinthian columns that lend dignity to the front of the structure were paterned are preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York city, having been presented to that institution at the request of its trustees. The temple of Apollo in Athens was the artistic predecessor that inspired the type of exterior architecture. The great main hall, into wmch entrance is had through the front portal, is of sienna yellow marble, which was imported from Africa. The marble columns there are monoliths. The staircase was fashioned in Paris, is of gunmetal and solid bronze, the motives of its panels being trophies of war, taken from the palace of Versailles, under special permission extended by the French Government. On the landing, over one of the large windows, is a medallion in marble of Mr. Hunt, the architect. Directly opposite is a bas-relief of that great architect of the reign of Louis A.IV., Mansart. The interior scheme of Marble House is wholly of the period of Louis XIV., that great patron of the arts. It was the study of Mansart’s work that enabled Mrs. Belmont and Mr. Hunt to arrive at the final plans for this splendidly artistic residence. The ceiling of the hall is formed of a painting from an old Italian palace, while the lantern that suspends is an exact replica of the One swinging down in the place at Versailles. The great bronze vessel on the right of the entry, holding sheaves of flow'ers, was inspired by the holy water font in St. Peter’s, in Rome. The tapestries on either side of the entrance doors came from the Duke of Rutland's collection, and have for their subjects the massacre of St. Bartholomew and the death of C'oligny, that noted French general and Huguenot leader, who, murdered in his chamber in the presence of the Duke of Guise, fell as the first victim of the massacre. The large ball-room, on the lower floor, at the right of the hall, is finished wholly in carved wood. The bas-reliefs represent the figures of the gods and goddesses of Greek mythology,- all in solid wood, carved and gilded. The ceiling is a Tintoretto. About the marble mantelpiece are enormous bronze figures of men holding torches, While figures of children in bronze and marble in each corner also hold clusters of lights aloft. The enormous chandeliers are reproductions of the one that adorns the Maison Chateau La Fitte. lire rug in this room is of the Sa-

vonnerie, and was woven especially for Louis XIV., his arms, the arms of Paris and the arms of France being formed in the almost priceless fabric. The furniture coverings are of the best period of the Gobelin tapestries. An extraordinary clock, a large crystal globe, registers simultaneously the time of Paris, London, Vienna and New York. The Gothic room, which is fifty feet by thirty feet in extent, or of the same dimensions as the ball room and diningroom, all of which are on the lower flooor, contains the famed Gothic museum. This was formed by M. Gavet, who devoted many years to completing the collection, every object in which is dealt with minutely in an engraved catalogue. There is scarcely an article in this room that does not antedate the sixteenth century. The stained glass in the four great windows came from the oldest cathedrals in Europe. The “Virgin and Child” by Lucas della Robbia has a place between two of the windows facing the sea. Every cabinet, every vitrine, every carving, and every object of art formed a part of this collection from the first, all having been placed as they now stand by M. Gavet, who made an especial visit to America for the purpose. Experts have pronounced the intaglios of extraordinary interest, many of these incised engravings on precious stones dating back before the birth of Christ. The collection of wax miniatures also is not surpassed by any museum in Europe. Among these dwarfed figures of kings and queens is a very noted one of Henry VIII., and another of one of the Popes. The figures are highly coloured and the frames that hold them are of gold. The collection of reliquaries came from the oldest cathedrals of the Gid World. The long hall leading to the dining room is in pink Nubian marble. The capitals and bases of the columns on either side are of solid bronze, and all the motives on the marble shafts also are in solid bronze. The ceiling is a Tintoretto. In the fabric utilized for curtains and the chair coverings the foundation is of metal, this exquisite work having come from looms of Lyons. The framework of the chairs is of solid bronze, all having been especially made in Paris, while the fleur-de-lis in the carpet is .woven in.metal. On the terrace overlooking the sea-, to which direct entry is had from the morning room, are a series of notable carvings in Carrara marble of the signs and figures of the zodiac. From this terrace, with its dignity and beauty of design, the green grounds,, beautiful in their growths of great trees and beds of flowers, load direct to the high bluff that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. A sunken cliff path leading from the shore where the waves crash in assures privacy and quiet to those in the house at all times, no matter how many pedestrians may stroll along the beach to points below the frowning cliff. It is the material of construction an<t the multiplicity of detail, all united is one harmonious whole, that have ,ab traoted t.he eyes of art lovers to this magnificent residence, aside from the art treasures that it shelters. It is not an overcrowded, overburdened house in point of furnishings and adornments. The dominating aim has been to have everything the type of perfection of its kind. Quality and not quantity has been the rule.