The copper king's cabana

Marcus Daly founded the town of Hamilton as a place to house his sawmill's laborers. The sawmill, in turn, supplied the lumber necessary for expanding his enormous copper and silver mines. At one point, in the late 1800s, Daly was making $17,000,000 a year. Not bad. He and his family lived in New York during the winter, and came out west to their summer home on the outskirts of Hamilton. Originally built as a Queen Anne Victorian home, they had it remodeled into this Georgian revival in 1910 so that it wouldn't "look like a church." With 25 bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, 3 dining rooms, a pool, greenhouse, and 50 acres of gardens and grounds, it ain't too shabby. When we were growing up, the mansion was a falling-down wreck, boarded up and abandoned. It has since been refurbished, with well-meaning docents in fancy hats giving tours. Many of the original furnishings have been bought back or donated back and are on display in their original locations. All except a hanging laundry dryer, which my parents bought at auction many years ago.