Immediately opposite Tarrytown is
the town of Nyach, which is connected with Tarrytown by a steam ferry.
In passing from Tarrytown to Mr. Bartlett's house, we drove through the
Sleepy Hollow, the scene of one of Washington Irving's tales, and passed
the old Dutch church, which is mentioned by him in the legend, as the
place of sanctuary where Ichabod took refuge. In fact, the whole scenery
is classic ground here; and Mr. Irving himself, who has rendered it so,
lives only two miles off, at Sunnyside.
After giving us some luncheon, Mr. Bartlett took Papa a walk up a high
hill behind the house, the view from which he describes as perfectly
enchanting; but it would be difficult for anything to surpass the one
seen from the house, combining every possible feature of wood, hill,
dale, and water; but if I cannot describe this, it would be equally
impossible to describe the perfect taste and beauty of the house itself.
The chief features are the carving of the wooden staircase, the
chimney-pieces in the library and dining-room, and of the book-cases in
the library. The carpet of the drawing-room was Aubusson tapestry, and
the furniture was entirely from French patterns or imported from Paris,
where it was made on purpose for the different rooms; every part of the
house, including the bed-rooms, was filled with choice engravings.
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