wo weeks' acquaintance, and
that has left in the mind an impression so entirely agreeable. It covers
about four and a half acres of ground, including an inner court of about
an acre, the rich made soil of which is raised to the level of the main
floor. The house surrounds this, in the Spanish mode of building, with a
series of galleries, so that most of the suites of rooms have a double
outlook--one upon this lovely garden, the other upon the ocean or the
harbor. The effect of this interior court or _patio_ is to give gayety
and an air of friendliness to the place, brilliant as it is with flowers
and climbing vines; and when the royal and date palms that are
vigorously thriving in it attain their growth it will be magnificent.
Big hotels and caravansaries are usually tiresome, unfriendly places;
and if I should lay too much stress upon the vast dining-room (which has
a floor area of ten thousand feet without post or pillar), or the
beautiful breakfast-room, or the circular ballroom (which has an area of
eleven thousand feet, with its timber roof open to the lofty
observatory), or the music-room, billiard-rooms for ladies, the
reading-rooms and parlors, the pretty gallery overlooking the spacious
office rotunda, and then say that the whole is illuminated with electric
lights, and capable of being heated to any temperature desired--I might
convey a false impression as to the actual comfort and home-likeness of
this charming place. On the sea side the broad galleries of each story
are shut in by glass, which can be opened to admit or shut to exclude
the fresh ocean breeze. Whatever the temperature outside, those great
galleries are always agreeable for lounging or promenading. For me, I
never tire of the sea and its changing color and movement. If this great
house were filled with guests, so spacious are its lounging places I
should think it would never appear to be crowded; and if it were nearly
empty, so admirably are the rooms contrived for family life it will not
seem lonesome. I shall add that the management is of the sort that makes
the guest feel at home and at ease. Flowers, brought in from the gardens
and nurseries, are every where in profusion--on the dining-tables, in
the rooms, all about the house. So abundantly are they produced that no
amount of culling seems to make an impression upon their mass.

[Illustration: OSTRICH YARD, CORONADO BEACH.]

But any description would fail to give the secret of the charm of