that it was of little value; only an idle wild with which nothing whatever could be done; and that description of it stuck captivatingly in my memoryidle wild! idle wild!"

It is about sixty miles above New York, and just beyond the grand gorges

of the Highlands, near where Newburg Bay stretches itself out for a nap in the sun. It is perched two hundred feet higher than the majestic river seen in the distance, and looks along and into deep glens where the wild brooklet dances and leaps in mad mirth, and over the roofs of the little village of Corn

wall below into the weird shadows of the Highland Pass. The house is of the Gothic order of architecture, with certain variations for picturesque effect; it is built of brick, and painted yellow. It abounds in gables and pinnacles, orielwindows and piazzas, and it is so well fitted among the evergreens as to secure a whole gallery of scenic pictures from the world below. In designing his home Mr. Willis was more interested in accommodating the structure to the fancies of his genius than in studying architectural angles. It represents two lives, as it were, "one in full view, which the world thinks all; and the life out of sight, of which the world knows nothing. You see its front porch from the thronged thoroughfare of the Hudson; but the grove behind it overhangs a deep-down glen, tracked but by my own tangled paths and the wild torrents which they by turns avoid and follow-a solitude in which the hourly hundreds of swift travelers who pass within echo-distance effect not the stirring of a leaf." Thus wrote the poet from his own especial sanctum, a miracle of boudoir enchantment, a study into which few were permitted to enter, and where he concocted his thunder or wove his spells to bewitch the great human family.

The whole interior of Idlewild was free from frescoes or carved moldings; but dainty pictures and choice treasures in marble and bronze, mantel, and bracket, and table, spoke of the wealth of taste rather than the poverty of means which eschewed superfluous ornamentation. Books were everywhere, for Willis was a reader, even though he made the world around him—its physi cal beauty, its feeling and action-his chief study, and daily life his library and teacher.

The modest little edifice, with stately air in its exalted position, stands upon the verge of a broad lawn in the midst of a domain of seventy acres, the pathways, drives, and entrance-gate all fashioned by the same artistic mind and in sweet, unconscious harmony with the other features of Idlewild. It possesses to a marked degree the characteristics of its projector, the magnetic influence, fanciful vagaries, and eccentricities growing from a singularly unique and original style, and yet ever under control, and never overstepping the pale of wellbalanced judgment. The writings of Willis were, indeed, like the bubbling outspring of a natural fountain which flows cheerfully and freely if it flows at all. His powers were not lessened by physical fatigue, and he never repeated

himself; but his fancy, like a prism, turned every ray of light it encountered with a point and force quick and dazzling as the lightning, and as if by magic he invariably led his readers and admirers captive.

"Claverhurst," Summer

Claverhurst, the summer home of the world-renowned nightingale, Miss Clara Louise Kellogg, is em

bowered appropriately in trees, and is mostly piazza,

which shows that, like all birds, its fair occupant loves the open air. It is a cozy nest, "built to music," and by music, and is properly harmonious in every detail. Situated in a serenely quiet nook on the banks of the Hudson, near Cold Spring, it is a bower of beauty, and, like the life of the famous musical artist, without spot or blemish. Miss Kellogg was born in South Carolina,

though of Northern parentage and ancestry. Her father is a man of remarkable ingenuity in mechanical invention; her mother possesses unusual gifts in music, also a talent with the pencil, and even skill in the cutting of cameos. Clara Louise is their only child. When she was a year old they removed to New Haven, Connecticut, where they resided fifteen years, and then removed to New York City. The maiden's musical genius was soon known and appreciated; but her energy and intense industry in obtaining her musical education, learning at the same time the French and Italian languages, contributed more

She is

to her subsequent successful career than even her passion for art. severely conscientious as an artist, and ardently enthusiastic, which, together with a well-trained and retentive memory, and a voice of great compass and purity, has rendered her a favorite everywhere, and her womanly worth and loveliness of character invest her picturesque cottage with exceptional interest.

The home of the late Hon. H. G. Eastman, at Poughkeepsie, is a handsome Italian villa, embracing several charming rooms, a picture-gallery, and a grand salon, which can be made very stately in effect when the owner chooses. The

grounds are literally a handsome park, hundreds of evergreens and choice trees having been planted and nourished until the plantation has quite an ancient

appearance.

The white-marble gate-posts and outlines to fountains were brought from the marble-quarries in Vermont. One fountain with thirty-eight jets ornaments the lower boundary of the park, and gold-fish swim in the basin.