The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1934-11-22
SERENE AND FEMININE, MRS NICE
FACES LIFE WITH A SMILE
KATHERINE sCARBOR OUGH

of the Governor-elect of Maryland,
and soon to take her place as mistress
of the Executive Mansion at Annap-
oils.
Her dark hair, with only a thread
or two of gray shining through, waves
loosely above an intelligent forehead.
Wide-open, dark-blue eyes look out
confidently at the world, expecting
friendliness in return. A matronly
figure, softly curved, testifes that
others may starve if they like in pur
suit of the streamline silhouette, but
she herself is content to eat what she
likes and let nature take its course.
So far, it hasn't betrayed her.
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No one could be more feminine. Or
less worldly. She never goes to the
races or other sporting events. She
likes animals, but restricts her inter
est in them to Buddy" the frisky
little 2-year old Boston bulldog which
is the household pet. So far as she is
concerned there might just as well be
no such thing as a tennis match or a
golf tournament. Causes and wo-
mems clubs leave her equally cold.
Bridge she regards as an amusement
and not as a profession.
81 enjoy the game and we play
quite a lot," she says of her activiZ
ties in this direction, "but 1 don't be-
long to bridge club. I couldn't think
of tying myself down to the game as
seriously as that. We frequently in
vite our friends in for a rubber or
two, and other times we go to some
one else's home for an evening, but
that's just about the extent of mycard
playing. Why, it was only last spring
that I even took up contract, so I'm
still in the primer class"
All of Mrs. Nice's interests in life,
she frankly admits, are bound up in
her husband, their son Harry w. Nice,
Jr., and the comfortable stucco house
which stands high on Oakshire road at
Hilltop Park, Mount Washington, and
which has been the Nice home ever
since they moved there from Forest
Park thirteen years ago. Husband and
son come frst-it is easy to see that
and the house forms an expression
of typical American family life, the
setting in which Mrs. Nice exercises
her talent for home making.
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That it is real talent is evident
not only from the air of happiness
which pervades it, even when cher
ished hope hangs in the balance, but
from the success with which Mrs. Nice
has succeeded in Transforming the
nondescript cottage she and her hus
band had bought into a gracious sub
urban residence. Not large, for all
its apparent size is seen from the
street, there is an air of restfulness
and space about the interior which is
the direct result of Mrs. Nice's abil-
ity not only to detect the possibilities
of an unpromising object, but to carry
them through to realization.
Through wide doorways and arches
the eye travels from one room to an
other in a vista stretching from the
long living room, which takes up one
whole end of the lower floor, across
the central hallway, through the din
ing room to the sunroom beyond. Mir
rors, stragetically placed, add by their
reflections to the apparent size of the
rooms, and the walls of the dining
room and sun room have been painted
in scenic designs to complete the illu-
sion.
This background forms harmoni-
GUS setting for period furniture in the
classic designs of Hepplewhite and
Duncan Phyfe. Deep and restful mod
ern chairs, with lamps on mahogany
tables conveniently near, add to the
comfort of the living room, and a
number of smaller chairs and bench
before the fireplace are upholstered
in needlepoint, made by Mrs. Nice,
who confesses she spends all of her
spare time at this diversion.
cit was great fun, fixing it all up"
says Mrs. Nice, her eyes kindling as
she recalls the experience. "When we
bought the house there were two small
rooms where the living room is now.
Down came the partition between
them before anything else was done.
Then we paneled the walls in both the
living room and the hall, and painted
the woodwork a light green to add
still further to the impression Of
space.
"The dining room was small, too,
but nothing could be done about that
because of the pantry and kitchen be-
hind it, so we took in the porch on
that side of the house and made a sun
room of it. All of the openings be-
tween the rooms were widened as
much rs possible and the same color
scheme was used throughout"
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