on market-days." Thus even its ancient attractions are in a certain sense immortalized.

About two miles to the north of "The Castle" is a pretty detached villa which was formerly owned and occupied by General Fremont. It was erected

by General James Watson Webb, United States Minister to Brazil for several years, who after dwelling here for a time sold the property to its later military master. It is of a pleasing though unpretentious order of architecture, and a fair specimen of the suburban home. The exterior ornamentation is of wood, which is used lavishly. Fine old forest-trees encroach lovingly upon the bal

cony, shading the house on the brightest day. The grounds are picturesquely uneven, and the view quite as beguiling as that of other points of the same altitude in the vicinity.

Rockwood, the beautiful home of the late William H. Aspinwall, near Tarrytown, challenges comparison with the best homes of any country. It may not boast of an avenue of trees ending in a Gothic church which dates back five hundred years, as is the privilege of the demesne of the Marquis of Westminster at Eaton Hall, who enjoys a fortune which has been carefully nursed for him since the days of William the Conqueror, but it is a noble villa-estate, and would be esteemed worthy of a distinguished place even in England among those of the opulent gentry which have been ripening for centu ries. It stands in a park of about two hundred acres, with a front of a mile on the bank of the Hudson, and two lodges and entrance-gates upon the road.

The structure has an extremely castellated appearance, and reminds the traveler fresh from the Rhine of those majestic outlines with which the hand of man has crowned Nature's charming heights in that part of the world. It is built of gneiss of two shades, the walls being of cold gray, while the sills and chimneys are of a warm dark gray. It is in the latest style of English Gothic architecture, having perpendicular traceries in the windows, and other fine peculiarities of that order. It was designed by an English architect, and is not only a fine specimen of mechanical skill, but a work of art and architectural propriety. The eastern front is one hundred and forty feet in length, flanked by a grand tower eighty feet high, twenty-eight feet square, and is lighted by richly decorated windows in every story. This front is otherwise diversified by the carriage-porch mantled with ivy, and the bay-window of a delightful sitting-room which rises to the whole height of the house, and which is also pierced by handsome windows. Beyond the main building the connecting range extends for a height of two stories, and this is again flanked on the northerly end by the wing three stories high. The other fronts of the house architecturally correspond with the one described.

The drawing-room is lighted with two bay-windows; the ceiling is pan

Rockwood, Residence of the late William H. Aspinwall.

eled with walnut, and has appropriate designs in the panels painted expressly for Mr. Aspinwall in Paris. The library is about twenty by thirty feet in size, and its somber, rich beauty is beyond the reach of pen. It is finished with walnut bookcases,

the ceiling richly paneled with the same wood, the ground painted in fresco of a deep-blue color ornamented with gilt rosettes; the fur

niture is Gothic, and of the finest character. The principal stairway runs at right angles to the hall, and is elaborately finished in the Gothic style with carved balustrade. The dining-room is even larger than the library, and is handsomely dressed in oak to correspond with the library and drawing-room; it has a large baywindow which connects with the butler's pantry by a concealed door. A billiard-room inclosed in glass extends on the west front across the dining-room and hall.

Under the generous rule of Mr. Aspinwall, the lawn, which is remarkable for the variety and beauty of its surface, and for the fine specimens of trees with which it is covered, received exceptional attention and care. The greenhouses are extensive, and an apparently illimitable forest extends to the north and east. The medieval windows, the carefully masked chimneys, and the grand and lofty tower, produce an exceedingly English

effect. The great size of the dwelling, together with its elevated position, and its extensive outlook, renders it one of the most striking and effective

in the country. The lodge, which we illustrate, with its handsome gateway, and vases filled with cactus, is a pleasing feature of the place.

In contrast with the baronial elegance of Rockwood, Idlewild, the picturesque home of N. P. Willis, might be likened to an exquisite poem, or, in the author's own words, "to a wise man's inner life illustrated and set to music." The site was little more than a craggy wilderness ravine "the bed of a wayward torrent "when it first came under the notice of Mr. Willis. He writes: "As I fell in love with it, and thought of making a home amid the tangle of mountains, my first inquiry as to its price was met with the disparaging remark