Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1940-04-11
MONTGOMERY
III SIDELICHTS
BY Elsie White Haines

On a quiet road leadlng from
. Ashton to the Brookeville Cooks
vile Highway, via Brinklow, we
have found several interesting
places. This week we want to in
troduce Mr.. and Mrs. William A.
Iddings, who have been weaving
rugs, carpets, luncheon sets and
many other things since 1895 =
Just one year after their marriage.
The quaint little stone house in
which they live, with easement
windows, and a small porch with
upstairs gallery over it, was built
in 1856 by Mrs. Iddings' grand
father, member of the Pierce
family. Much of the shrubbery
was planted at that time = two
of the largest box bushes we
ever saw, stand at either side of
the porch = and o, the red berries
that graced their holly trees at
Christmas.
Mrs. Iddings laughingly tells
how they set up their loom and
started weaving by writing direc-
tons - neither of them knew any
thing of the art - their first strip
of carpet looked as if it had been
made for a circular staircase!
They have also been hooking
rugs for the past ten years, their
patterns are either copies of ex-
pensive rugs or their own original
designs you may have one in
your home if you wish = lovely
with the box. They have always
had sale for their work, but natur-
ally with the importations of hand
woven things from abroad cur
tailed by the war - the demand
has increased.
We were idling before the fire.
place at Halfway House, near
Sandy Spring, the gift shop of
schoolmate, early in December, and
remarked that the carpet on the
floor looked just like the ones on
our floors when we were children,
Sand made by the same hands no
doubt" said Miss Moore and
sure enough they were!
It has been years since we were
there, but we visited the Iddings
that same day and renewed our
acquaintance - they have one
daughter, now Mrs. Wilson of Bal
timore, who also was at Sherwood
School when we were.
On that first visit we found Mrs.
Iddings hooking rug, using a
frame which she told us was over
one-hundred years old, used by her
aunt Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Kum-
mer of Bethlehem, Pa. when she
taught embroidery in Bethlehem
Seminary for Young Ladies-the
oldest girls school in America, es-
tablished in 1885 by the Moravians
now Moravian College. We
have been back several times since
= bought some Christmas gifts
there = the prices are surprisingly
low for such exquisite work.
Nearby is the old Brown home,
known as Gittings-Ha-Ha, 1--WE
must find out why) restored and
respondent in white paint, now
owned by a dealer in antiques
wonder if they have anything as
lovely as some of the old pieces
we remember, when as child, we
visited "Miss Marion.
Wrenwood, once a private hos
pltal - now made into apartments
- where we spent many weeks
years ago, and first learned to love
the birds, squirrels and even the
bees.
Speaking of birds reminds us
that our "Mr. and Mrs. Mocking
Bird" are all pulled up with pride
since the Bentztown Bard mention
ed them in his column, but Pete
the Chesapeake has been green
with envy - Pete had his first
swim since the warm days around
Christmas, on Sunday afternoon.
Had hard time keeping GOrdy,
Sonny and Nance from kicking off
their shoes and joining him = they
rode home with him in the back of
the coupe - had to dry all Of them
over the hot air register before
letting their parents see them. We
spilled over on another page last
week - so goodbye for now.