From the article featuring the home: Late American colonial and early Victorian element blend with the mellow relics of golden eras of Europe and the practical beauty of modern architectural schemes in Hopkins house near here. Owned by Johns Hopkins, colorist, designer and painter of national note, the house and estate have been a part of the Trempealeau valley scene in some form or another since 1839. Today's Hopkins house is the fifth structure built by James Hopkins, grandfather of Johns Hopkins, who built first of sod and then of logs.
Tall and stately in the colonial tradition with white colonades, the house is painted Victorian red. Victorian "graveyard furniture" adorns the rotico and silver carriage lamps are set at each side of the main door.
An Artist's House: It is, in the main, an artist's house, expressive of the personality and imagination of its owner. This personality is what has molded charming, picturesque Hopkins house into a show place. He lives here with his mother, Mrs. F. D. Hopkins, 80, who is still a talented gardener.
Gardens Have Charm: Surrounding the house and the curved loggia which connects it with the servants' quarters are gardens, cool and green and with all the charm of the gardens of old Virginia and the villas of suburban Rome.
The gardens are planned wth long views. The best example of this is the east garden, a formal garden of annuals, starting at the lily pond which is watered by lead dolphins brought from England.
One can look from the east garden through a lilac alley into a pine grove. Two pillars topped by eagles brought from Italy form the entrance to the alley. Near an inner court is a toolhouse patterned after the Mount Vernon toolhouse and near by are a vegetable garden and a dahlia garden.
Laid Around Oak: Probably the most attractive spot is the sunken garden which lies beyond the Hopkins kitchen. Laid out around a 150 year old oak, the garden is flanked by lilac hedges and is decorated with a Pompeii satyr. Beyond the sunken garden is an informal family garden. Additions under way include a trillium garden and a figure carved in oak. The interior of the house is equally as charming and as period as the gardens. Much of the furniture is original 1790-1840 and the dining room is painted to match the famous Octagon house dining room in Washington, D.C. The 300 year old dining room doors come from England and on the wall is a mirror used by George Washington.
Watercolors by Hopkins and pieces by nationally known artists are displayed in the library, upon whose shelves are many first editions. The library furniture is original Chippendale, the rug a gray Aubusson. Modern times are apparent in the kitchen, which is lined with gray cabinets whose interiors are a soft red and whose light comes from fluorescent tubes and wide windows. Equipped with the best in modern tools, it retains an old world charm.
But in spite of its treasures, Hopkins house is a lived in house--a home for an artist. |