The exact location or date of the Marquand residence is not given in Harry W. Desmond and Herbert Croly, Stately Homes in America: From Colonial Times to the Present Day, D. Appleton and Company, New York, 1903; nor is it clear whether Richard Hunt was involved in the interior design or only served as architect for the home.
Desmond and Croly comment, "As a natural consequence of their edifying travels, rich Americans began to collect old European furniture, fabrics, mantelpieces, tapestries, silver, and china.....It naturally occured to the importers of these beautiful and rare European antiquities that the best way to use them was to give them their proper value by grouping them together in certain rooms; and consequently toward the end of the "seventies" [1870's] this began to be done. The most notable example of this phase of the growth of the modern residence was the house of the late Mr. Henry G. Marquand. He was, indeed, peculiarly a collector, and he always tended to make his residence more of a museum than the strictly domestic proprieties would admit, but he had rooms designed in certain types, of which his Japanese room [sadly enough, not pictured in the book] was the most famous; and in these rooms his extraordinary collection of rugs, tapestries, china, and the like were arranged. The pieces were brought, however, rather with an eye to their intrinsic value than to their place in a decorative scheme, and little or no unity of effect was sought among different apartments." (Harry W. Desmond and Herbert Croly, Stately Homes in America: From Colonial Times to the Present Day, D. Appleton and Company, New York, 1903, pp. 248-249)
The Hall of the Marquand Residence. The fireplace and surrounding carving dominate the hall. The figures over the fireplace appear to be monks watching a saint or other religious figure ascending, presumably to heaven.
The Dining-Room in the Marquand Residence. Note the elaborate floors and ceilings.
The Moorish Room in the Marquand Residence. Many of the motifs used in the room are borrowed from Islamic designs (such as are found in medieval mosques in Spain).
A Bedroom in the Marquand Residence. I cannot identify what style this room is. The figures shown along the top of the room include people with wings, a horseman, a dragon, etc.
Pictures from Harry W. Desmond and Herbert Croly, Stately Homes in America: From Colonial Times to the Present Day, D. Appleton and Company, New York, 1903; digital editing by Sarah E. Mitchell. Text by Sarah E. Mitchell unless otherwise noted.
Copyright © 2002 Sarah E. Mitchell