113

A WORD
WITH THE WOMEN

(By Elia W. Peattie)

It is a gratification to know that
Edouard and Jean de Reszke, the famous
singers, have ordered the plans for
a villa to be built in Poland of an Amerian
architect, J Sidney Villere of Chicago.
It is to be a picturesque affair,
called the "Cottage Americaine," and is
to stand on a hill among woods, approached
by centenary cedars. Pillars
of porphyry granite will guard the portal,
which is to be of bronze; the balustrade
of the porch is also to be of porphyry
granite, with pots for tropical
plants. Following is a description of
some of the rooms.

The first room is exceedingly ornate.
Three steps from the first landing there
is a monumental mantel, with side window
and a seat, and then the starting
of the grand staircase. All the decorations
here will be old bibelots of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. On
the right is the parlor, done in the choicest
white birds eye male, polished and
waxed. It resembles a square pavilion,
the antique conceits in the hall being repeated
with the addition of large panels
of ancient tapestry and all manner of
rare furniture to harmonize. Cream
white forms the background, lacquered
in two shades, with a few delicate
touched of dulled gold.

These two masters will banquet their
guests in a great feastroom, trimmed
in red pine. Here the wainscoting and
panels are heavily carved and molded,
as is also the wooden cornice of the ceiling,
with the rich work in Sevres blue.
Personal friends of the brush are to contribute
four hunting scenes for the walls
showing the chases of the bear, wolf,
board and reindeer.

The entire villa is composed of curious
rooms and passages, conspicuous among
which is the "hunters' den". This is en-entered
by an archivolte in the dining
room, passing through a gallery, from a
porch and private vestibule. This "piece
intime" has a spacious fireplace, where,
Mr. de Reszke writes, he will burn nothing
but logs of applewood. There is
also a sideboard and a duke's table in
the center for luncheons and the like.
Around all sides of the den are voluptuous
divans for lounging as the sportsmen
tell stories of the days in the woods.
All the walls here are covered with
stamped Russia leather.

Edouard and Jean both have suites on
the third floor, and down the halls are
ten more elaborte apartments, with
quarters for retinues of servants. All
the appliances and inventions which
make the Amerian living rooms the
most comfortable in the world are lavishly
applied.

Wide acres surround the villa, with
bridges and brooks, all adding to the
originally picturesque outline of the
structure itself. The entire scheme results
from years of extensive travel and
the De Reszkes really congratulate Chicago
that its architectural ideas surpass
those of all the rest of the modern
world.

There is no subject in which women
are most interested than in that of
houses. Indeed, the pastime of many
women is to imagine or design houses in
which they would like to live, although
they may not have the least expectation
of ever having any other place of abode
than the unsatisfactory one which they
are occupying It is very seldom that a
woman has a house which is in all respects
as she would have it. Personally
I never saw but one house I wanted. It
stood on a noble plain beyond a great
river, and the approach to it was
through mighty elms. The house itself
was in the style of the Parthenon. Its
white marble pillars supported the portico
with a strong serenity. It was
chaste, white and still. Nothing earthly
ever brought such a sense of rest as that
abode. It was seen but once and for only
a few moments, but it will never be forgotten.
The de Reszkes are to be congratulated
on the possession of such a
little palace, embodying the ideas which
please them best.