FAMILY STORIES ON GOODHUE COUNTY PEOPLE. COME ON!!!
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CHARLES BETCHER'S RESIDENCE: (See Biography on Charles Betcher) On the plateau overlooking the city of Red Wing, in a westerly direction from its business centre, stands Mr. Betcher's handsome new residence. It was begun in 1876 and completed in the summer of 1878. The location is one of the most picturesque and attractive to be met with in this part of the State. It commands a magnificnet view of the bold bluffs that fringe the border of another state, and a long sweep of the great river and the intervening valley. To the south, half encircling it, is a grand amphitheatre of cliffs, dotted with timber, grasslands and cultivated fields. The building is of brick, three stories above a basement of cut stone, constructed in the most substantial manner and of a unique and highly attractive style of architecture. It is finished and furnished in a manner appropriate of such an enterprise. There are two main entrances, one opening out to the east and the other on the north side, each with two sets of heavy oak doors and black walnut trimmings. On the first floor is the elegant drawing room, 17x24 feet, containing a mantle of beautiful Italian statuary marble, as pure and white as the driven snow. A large French plate mirror with firegilt and ebony mountings in another adornment. Pictures from Venice and Rome, and malachite from Russia, grace the apartment. Separated from the drawing room by the hall leading in from the north is the library, with its catalogue of choice books, curiosities and costly fixtures. Double sliding doors separate those apartments. From the library a door opens out into the sitting room, thence into the eastern hall. On the right of this hall is the sitting room and library, and on the left the dining room and conservatory, complete in all their appointments. This floor yet containts the kitchen and in it one Warren's improved ranges veneered with brick, together with a large water-heater, supplied by a pipe connected with a tank in the upper story. By a system of pipes attached to a large force pump, hot and cold water is conveyed to the first and second floors as required. This pump, having its location in the kitchen, is connected by a pipe with two cisterns in the basement, holding each about four hundred barrels of water. Kitchen, pantry, bathroom, closets, bedroom and all the various apartments of this floor are finished and furnished admirably, and are arranged with an eye to convenience, health and social comfort. On the second floor, in the eastern portion of the building is the elaborate suite of rooms occupied by the eldest daughter. They consist of a sitting room, dressing room -- finished in colors of pink -- painting, carpeting and all to correspond -- and sleeping apartment. From the sitting room a beautiful view of the city is obtained, looking out through a large bay tri-set window, which is directly above and an exact copy of the one on the first floor. These rooms are tastefully finished, light and cheerful and the many delicate and graceful fixtures are in perfect keeping. On this same floor is another fine room, elegantly furnished, the bedroom and boudoir of the younger daughter. Directly over the drawing room and of corresponding dimensions, is the "blue room", finished and furnished with that soft, delicate tint that can only be rivaled by nature in the cerulean blue of the sky. Rooms for domestics, bathrooms, closets and all the appropriate apartments, with water and gas, together with the necessary appurtenances are on this floor. The apartments on the third floow are one large room for billard hall or social gatherings, bedroom and others. These rooms are light and cheerful and from the various windows a grand view of the city and a wide sweep of the surrounding country is obtained. The house is lighted with gas and supplied with soft water thoroughly filtered and rendered as pure as the dews of the morning. From the Observatory a marvelous scene is presented; the wooded bluffs on the Wisconsin side, dotted with fields, farm houses and grasslands; the dark river creeping lazily along on its winding way to the lower country, the broad valley, with its alternate belts of timber and prairie, with lakes and ponds intervening, the beautiful city, with its great mills and business blocks and churches and the fine school buildings and elegant homes and joyous activity, and finally the charming view on the south and west -- make up a panorama in nature, combining at once the grand, sublime and the beautiful. In the basement is located the great furnace for heating the various apartments. Pipes radiate to all parts of the house through which steam is conveyed from the heated fountain. The basement is divided into a laundry room, where a small furnace is established to facilitate that branch of the domestic duty, a wood room, a coal room, the furnace room and other useful apartments. Connected with, but beyond the outer walls of this apartment are the two large cisterns, holding 800 barrels of water. The house enjoys a happy combintation of the useful and the beautiful. It is a well-lighted, ventilated, convenient and cheerful home. Everything pertaining to construction is substantial, heavy, rich and elegant, but not gaudy. The fixtures are in keeping with the elaborate workmanship that adorns the interior. When the finishing touches shall have been applied to the building and its immediate surroundings, it will embody the elements of taste and refinement. History of Goodhue County, Red Wing, MN 1878.