The Washington times., 1928-06-15
HOOVER Home at PnIO Alto Boasts
Ier0ced Front Porch Going Home

ed Will BRING New Type
of Chatelaine to White
House
California, Here / Come -
is a song that all good
Republicans will be singing
this summer. Far the politi-
cal spotlight will be shifted
TO the Pacific Coast, which,
If memory serves, has now
produced its first presiden-
tia1 candidate.
Tt is said that, as the
Republicans chosen stand
ard bearer, Herbert Hoover
will at once resign from the
Cabinet and that, with Mrs.
Hoover, he. will 60 to. his be-
loved home in Palo Alto,
Calf.
Tsrraced Front Porch
There he will receive the
formal notification of his non1-
nation and there he will take
] complete rest before girdlng
himself for the fray. He will
nrobablV do q lot OF speech
naking over the country, but Il
there is a "front-porch cam
paign'' it will be conducted
fronn the terrace of the "house
an the hill" overlooking the
campus of Leland Stanford
University, Mr.. Hoover's alma
mater-and his wife's.
Center of Population
r was Mrs. Hoover who de-
.igned this three-Ievel terrace ana
insisted that it be made "nveanle,
with huge open air fireplace
which is the focus OF attraction on
eool evenings. This ig the. center
# population OF the Hoover
bopsghold. when they are at Palo
Alto Afternoon tea is usually
served there. with the young gen.
Grafton sitting about on porch
pillows on the floor, the next
including some grand
mothers and Mrs. Hoover herseiL
GROUPED on the parapeE around
the terrace and the celebrltles-
st whom they are always . few
1t the Hoovers' land sedate ones
occupying capacious and comfort
able wicker chairs.
There are birds and SQUIRRELS to
watch and sometimes even light.
ening through the trees, which
only makes It more imperative
that the tea ceremony be staged
on the terrace. This commands a
view. when the weather is clear,
which includes the Campanile at
Berkeley, the long stretch OF the
bay with it's thanking hills and at
night the clustered lights Of seven
towns.
The plans for the Hoover house
ct PAIo Alto were Mrs. HoOYer's
own, although she had the as
sistance of first-rate architects
in working them out. And Mr..
Hoover's study, the most de.
lightful room In the house. Ia
one of her dream rooms come
true There's single enormous
window on each Of two sides.
one looking off across the campus
to the Golden Gate.
"Hominess' a Fetish
If Mr.. Hoover should be elect
ed President Of the United
States, one wonders how Mrs.
Hoover would react to the stately
formaIity of White House draw
ing-rooms. Informality and "homi.
ness" are fetishes with her. 1t
was because the 'front room"
in the Hoover house in s Street
had white walls and looked too
much like o. drawing-room" that
Mrs. Hoover decided to make it
the dining.room, using for her
1iving-room the great apartment
across the back which had once
been the dininS-roon. This has
walls paneled in honey colored
wood and three great windows
looking over the garden. These
are uncurtained, save for ORA
peries at the side, so that the
garden, with its fine stand Of
forest trees, seems part OF the
house. The furnishings bespeak
comfort and ease and there are
many rare and lovely things
picked up all over the world to
give an air of distinction.
New Type
Again, should Mr.. Hoover he
elected, the White House would
have q. new type OF chatelaine.
For Mrs. Hoover has had q nors
adventurous career than any wo"
man who has ever presided over
this historic mansion. She mas
shared her husbands life very
completely and in his early days,
az q mining engineer, his work
took him into the far corners OF
the earth. During the Boxer re-
bellion she went through the
siege Of Tientsin with him, when
the foreign colony barricaded itself
with sugar barrels and rice bags
and used to pilfer sugar from the
barricade to serve tea Of an after
noon. In London, when the war
broke out, Lou Henry Hoover
helped her husband with his task
OF getting stranded Americans
home and she was an 4nyalua bic
aid IN all his work for the relief
Of starving Belgium.
When the Hoovers first came 10
Washington it was during the war.
The city was overrun with war
workers and the housing situation
was acute. Hundreds of the girls
employed In the Food Adninistra.
ton were living in cranped and
unhygienic quarters. So Mrs.
Hoover organized the Food Admin,
drfs.a tim fNlnh ranfAd Senator.