Evening star., 1938-06-05
BRIDE FURNISHED
|CKES' NEW HOME
Supervised Decoration OF
Secretary's Maryland
Farm Residence.

When the Secretary of the Interior
and Mrs. Ickes, the former Miss Jane
Dahlman, return in another week from
their honeymoon in the British Isles,
the guests they receive at beautiful
Headwaters Farm, outside Olney, Md,
will see young bride against set
ting of her own choosing.
An environment expressing her own
personality, fully detailed to the last
tea cart and Colonial hooked rug for
the upstairs hall, will make this mir
acle 1t is miracle, because most
brides have to struggle and founder
with interior decorating hints from
relatives and magazines. with mistakes
in materials and chairs for years be-
fore there emerges that distinctive at
mosphere which marks their own
home from any other hearthstone.
Nearly a year ago the forrzsr Miss
Dahlman was called into consultation
on all matters of furnishing and dec
Grating the commodious Maryland
manor house which the Secretary Of
the Interior had just bought. That
she should choose the colors and fur
niture styles congenial with her own
taste was natural. That she would
herself occupy the manor house as
the newest cabinet hostess some
months later might or might not have
been decided at the time. However,
her selections suited perfectly the
background provided by this white
pillared example of architecture as
sociated with story book lore of the
old South.
In this romantic setting Mr.. and
Mrs. Ickes will inaugurate the fall
season of hospitality, for it was an
nounced after their recent marriage il
Dublin, which caught official Wash
ington by surprise, that they would be
"at home" after September at Head
waters Farm.
Enjoy Informal Parties.
Their first "at home" no doubt will
bring flock of friends for the inform
al entertainment which, it Is known, is
the kind that Mr.. Ickes and his bride
most enjoy. Down through the state
ly center hall toward the gracefully
winding twin stairs in the rear will
go much of Washington society to ad-
mire young woman whose creative
and alert sympathies
could have accomplished such a fine
of house and home. Perhaps
she had digested we'll Gone With
the Wind and knew that Southern
manor houses must represent an en-
bodiment of glamour, peace and rest
fulness.
But then. too, there is that touch Of
Western flavor and cosmopolitan
smartness to Headwaters Farm that
combines to set it apart as an ideal
setting for the formal entertaining
which cabinet host and hostess can
not escape in Washington.
Rumor says that Mr.. Ickes prefers
the informal event, wherein the din
ner jacket or more pretentious tails
have no part. In fact, he doesn't like
"stuffed-shirt" affairs at all and will
be his happiest at the informal groups
of friends gathered at Headwaters
Farm, at which politics and CONVEX
sation are the spice of life.
But as a member of the cabinet
with a handsome bride, a house
equipped after her hearts desire in
surrounding grounds of $50 broad
Maryland acres, Mr.. Ickes may expect,
as soothsayer would foretel If she
were gazing into her crystal, to have
many struggles with his evening ties
during the ensuing winter months.
Formerly Proberts' Home.
The estate which Secretary Ickes
bought on May 20, a year ago, was the
home of the late Lionel c. Probert,
one-time manager Of the Washington
Bureau Of the Associated Press and
vice president Of the c. & o. Railroad.
In its broad pastures still Craze some
Of the descendants of the sheep which
Mr.. Probert bought from President
Wilson after they had threatened to
denude all the grass on the White
House lawns.
Mr.. sIckes changed the name from
Homeland to Headwaters, the latter
being symbolic of its exact location,
since the headwaters of Rock Creek
pass through it to form half dozen
inviting and attractive pools in the
grounds.
The original house, which dates
back about 100 years, was badly dam
aged by fire about 1928 and was re-
built to its present design by the
Proberts. It has been associated with
the social life of the Sandy Spring
region since its first construction, and
belonged more recently to the Casi1ell
family, old settlers Of the region.
The house Is quarter Of a mile
from the main pike and is reached
by q private roadway. It Is offset by