Newspaper Page Text
VOLUME I.
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HOW IN NEW YOK.
New YORK.—The exterior of a
rich man's home is a pretty
fair index generally to his
tastes and his character. If it
is a city house, the passerby,
looking at it from the street, usually
can make a shrewd guess as to the
sort of man who caused it to be built
The architect constructs the house
around his patron’s ideas. Nowhere
else do the homes of multi-millionaires
reflect their owners’ individualities as
they do in New York. This is espe
cially the case in the new residence
that John D. Rockefeller, Jr., is hav
ing built in West Fifty-fourth street. ;
Every one knows that John D., Jr.,
has so much money he could turn a :
whole city block into a garden as a
setting for his mansion, if he wished,
and do it without worrying about the
cost Charles M. Schwab did some
thing like that, but his house on River- •
side drive stands unoccupied from 1
one year’s end to another. Schwab 1
built his palace, it is said, with the 1
idea of making a splash in society. 1
Young Mr. Rockefeller and his wife ]
care as little for society as they do for
show, and that is not at all They
have four children, however, the 1
youngest about two years old, and they 1
wanted a bigger house than the one ’
they have been living in at No. 13 1
West Fifty-fourth street So they plan- '
ned the one that is nearing comple- ’
tion. It is just opposite, at No. 10 '
of the same street, and just west of 1
John D„ Sr.’s, home. It is without 1
doubt the biggest private residence in 1
New York, and one of the plainest of 1
the homes of millionaires. Inside and ’
out it is severe in its simplicity, but '
there are few mansions in America 1
that can approach it in comfort,
though more than one along Fifth 1
avenue and the side streets may sur- 1
pass it in cost By experts in such 1
matters it is considered the most per- 1
feet structure for a home that mod- 1
ern ingenuity has devised.
Is Unique In Height.
Other mansions—such as the Van- ,
derbilt house, between Fifty-seventh ,
and Fifty-eighth street, on Fifth ave- (
nue —cover more ground, but they are (
less than half in height The new
Rockefeller bouse is 40 feet wide and ,
109 feet deep. It is nine stories, or .
about 100 feet in height. Yet it looks j
neither like an apartment hotel nor a ,
fashionable club, although with a lit- .
tie remodeling it would fit either pur
pose. •
Between the four-story red brick and
brownstone vine-clad mansion of John :
D., Sr., and the new house of his son ■
there is a sweep of iawn, with flower- :
beds and trees that is big for that part
of New York, although it covers not
more than three city lots. To the east ;
of the older Rockefeller, house are
more grass and trees, a strip of about
50 feet in width. There is even a ;
summer house half hidden by trees
and foliage. If a man who had seen ।
John D. Sr., once and was told to
walk through Fifty-fourth street from
end to end and point out his house, he i
could not fail to pick the right one.
Like its owner, it seems to be in se-
NUMBER 24.
rene enjoyment of a green old age.
It is the same kind of a house that
Mr. Rockefeller would have built had
he made a moderate fortune and set
tled in Titusville or Oil City. Though
the plumbing and heating in it may
not be of this, or even of last year’s,
model, no doubt it is satisfactory to
its owner, and he would not have it
changed for anything. Probably 30 or
40 years from now young John D's
house will have taken on the same
time-mellowed appearance, but today,
with the last of the derricks still peep
ing over the edge of its roof, it is in
residential architecture what the 1913
model is in automobiles, the last word
for the present.
Roof Garden a Feature.
Its walls are of Indiana limestone,
which is considered as enduring as
marble, but rather less expensive and
capable of more artistic treatment
architecturally. Counting the stories
from the street outside the careless
eye is likely to number but eight,
but the ninth' is under the mansard
like slope of the roof, which makes
what otherwise would be the attic the
ninth story. Here, at the top of
the house, overlooking all the oth
er buildings in the neighborhood,
and secluded from the view of all
except those in distant skyscrapers,
is a sort of roof garden. In summer
it will be a real sylvan retreat, far
above the noise of the city. There will
be a big, vine-clad pergola, grass and
shrubs. In one corner will be a sand
pile for the children to play in. Open
ing off of this are several rooms that
can be used for open air sleeping
apartments in summer or winter. The
Rockefellers are great believers in
fresh air and plenty of it, even in
their offices. There is plenty of room
to pitch a tent or to make a children’s
playground ipwn on the lawn, but
that would attract so much attention
that the Rockefeller yard then would
be one of the most photographed spots
in the United States and every sight
seeing bus would advertise it among
the attractions of the city. Away up
on the roof, however, there is nearly
the space of two city lots. There are
no shade trees —although no doubt
that could be arranged also, if de
sired —but the roof as it is designed
gives absolute privacy, which is the
thing the very rich are willing to pay
the highest prices for.
Fine Squash Court Provided.
The ninth floor, large as it is, has no
room for tennis or other athletic ex
ercises, hut on the floor below there
is one ot the finest squash courts in
America. For the benefit of those
persons who do not know what the
game of squash is, it may be explained
that it consists in standing some dis
tance from a wall and batting a ball
against it with a racquet. When the
ball bounds back it is caught by the
other player, of the two-handed game,
and is batted against the wail again.
It is splendid exercise, and, as a game,
simplicity itself. On the same floor
there is a large gymnasium, fitted
with every apparatus for children, as
Wie
IRWINTON, WILKINSON COUNTY, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 1912.
well as grown-ups. All through this
great house. It will be noticed, the
dominant .’flea is for comfort and
healthy development of the children.
Oft the gymnasium are several shower
baths. On the same floor is an In
firmary suite, so that if ?ny of the
children or any one else falls ill they
can be isolated there if necessary. At
any rate, the infirmary suite is a min
iature hospital of the most modern
sort Every scientific device for clean
liness and comfort has been incorpor
ated in it . Noise may be excluded,
and the air that enters will be fil
tered.
On the sixth and seventh floors are
the servants’ quarters. Generally, even
in rich men's houses, the servants
sleep up in the attic or down in the
basement in tiny, stuffy rooms. The
Rockefeller servants will be better
lodged in this new house than they
would be if they were guests at some
fashionable hotel at $6 a day. The
Rockefeller staff of servants, in both
houses, is the old-fashioned, domestic
kind that keep their places year after
year ar 4 are pensioned when they
grow old. On the fifth floor are the
guest suites. They are spacious, com
fortable rooms. There will be three
of them on this floor, each of course
with its bath and dressing room. When
it is considered that the total floor
area of the average six-room apart
ment is about 1,200 square feet and
that the area of one floor in this big
Rockefeller house is about 4,000
square feet, it is not hard to get an
idea of how large the rooms are when
there are but three to the floor.
Entire Floor for Children.
Th'e children’s rooms are on the
floor below. This entire floor is
“their house.” Here they will eat and
1 sleep and play and study. No one
will bother them and they will bother
no one. There are four children, Bab
ette, who is now nine years old; John
D., 3d, aged six; Nelson Aldrich, aged
four (named after his grandfather, the
senator from Rhode Island), and a
baby son who was born in 1910.
On the third floor are Mr. and Mrs.
Rockefeller’s rooms and the library—
three rooms in all. On the second
floor are the drawing room, the music
room and the dining room. The
ground floor is taken up by the main
hall, the reception room and the low:r
sweep of the grand staircase. This
; stairway, which as it rises becomes
I a spiral, is of Caen stone. It goes to
the top of the house, but, of course,
is smaller the higher it ascends. There
are two elevators, one for the serv
ants and for freight and the other for
1 the rest of the household. In the base
■ ment are the kitchens, and in the sub
basement is the plant of machinery
for heating, water circulation, etc. All
in all the house is as completely
equipped with every possible device
for comfort as the most modern and
expensive apartment hotel. The in
terior walls are- as plain as those out
side. The only decorations are in the
molding of the plaster, and these are
as simple, yet as beautiful as their
simplicity, as the rest of the structure.
Everything is severely plain, but in a
way that is extremely expensive.
House Built to Last
That young John D. has planned to
make thir. his home as long as he lives
and later the home for his children
and their children as well, is evidenced
in many ways. The house is built as
strongly as steel and stone can be
combined, and should last for cen
turies. So that undesirable neighbors
will not encroach, John D., Jr., re
cently has bought the properties at
13, 19 and 30 West Fifty-third street
in the rear of his new house. He has
torn down two of the houses at Fifty
third street so as to give his own
house a southern exposure, and will
have the grounds laid out in gardens
in connection with those that are
about his house and that of his father.
It is said he probably will continue
purchasing property in the neighbor
hood, so that in time he absolutely
will control, by ownership, the block
where he lives and the block that his
house faces. Though this will require
a good deal of money—land there is
worth $4,000 or $5,000 a front foot, or
whatever one cares to pay—the invest
ment is not likely to prove a losing
one, for where the Rockefellers live
is one of the creamiest residential sec
tions in New York city.
Merely a Hint
The fat man had ordered his dinner
and had waited long enough. He had
read the want ads in the newspaper,
and had even glanced at the prices
in the white sales of various depart
ment ' stores. He grew hotter and
sorer, and then called the head wai
ter.
"What can I do for you, sir?” asked
the head waiter.
-Cali a bellboy,” said the fat man.
The head waiter called a' bellboy
and awaited instructions.
"Mr. Head Waiter,” said the fat
man, "can you tell me the name of
the waiter that took my order?”
“Why, his name is Caleb Short,”
was the reply.
“Kid,” said the fat man to the bell
boy. "here is a dollar. Please go and
page Mr. Caleb Short I know he is
somewhere about the hotel. Page
him, and page him for the dollar's
worth." ’
MYRICK’S
DEPARTMENT
STORE
MILLEDGEVILLE,GA.
SPRING
IS HERE
Our showing of Spring and
Summer Goods will please you-
We have the most complete line
ever shown in Milledgeville
Georgia, Our efforts for the last
six months have been concern
trated on getting together this
wonderful showing.
CAN WE
PLEASE YOU?
We will be pleased to have
you call and see what we have.
Your Friends,
W. S. MYRICK
& COMPANY
SI.OO A YEAR.