Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 January 1910 — WASHINGTON FARMER'S House. [ARTICLE]

WASHINGTON FARMER'S House.

Interior PoraUklnc Im IftdT* Wood*—Daniel with Mirrors. Among the strangest houses on record perhaps In the United States is that of Alexander Stuart of Waitaburg, a one-time farmer, the Spokane Spokesman Review say*. He has spent the best part of two years in personally supervising the construction of his residence, which when completed will be one of the finest examples of interior finishing in the northwest, resplendent in mosaic floors of oak, mahogany and maple, shining with thirty plate glass mirrors which weigh nearly half a top. and glowing with the dark red of fir, finished in imitation of mahogany. To outward appearance the house ts an ordinary two and a half story residence of the better type on an ordinary street in an ordinary but pretty country town. ... t' . " Y : / Once within, however, the eyes are dazzled with elegance, which even in the unfinished state is everywhere apparent The floors are of rare parquetry design, with the elegant “rug finish.” The design runs through living room, dining room, hall and parlor, though no two rooms are floored In the same design. The baseboards, door facings, etc., are of curly fir, with the grain brought out clearly in deep red mahogany stain. Fine pressed beadwork adorns all the corners, giving a sense of riotous richness. The walls are in hard white plaster, their simplicity contrasting sharply with the gorgeousness of the wood finishing. The sliding doors between hall and dining room are of plate glass panels of the finest grinding and polish, and this scheme has been carried out in all the important doors, both upstairs and down. Between dining room and kitchen the door is merely of plate glass and transparent. The windows, evgn in the back kitchen, are of enormously heavy French bevelled glass, so clear that one is hardly conscious of their presence. At every turn the visitor will be met by his own image, advancing or retreating or siding away from him at an angle. From one point in the parlor a person can stand and see all the persons and objects in the dining room and even into the kitchen. Upstairs several bedrooms are finished in the parquet flooring and stained imitation of mahogany as below. They are spacious and well lighted, the same grade of glass being used here as elsewhere. In the attic are three servants’ rooms, reached by a stairway of highly polished mahogany steps uncarpeted. A Masonic design on a tiny light placed in the front gable will also peep down at the passerby from its high rest. There is a special switch in the attic for turning on and off this gable light In the basement heavy glass doors separate the apartments, which are well finished in cement floors and white hard plastered walls.