RowanLark at Headwater Farm

You will drive through suburban Olney to get to this historic mansion, improbably pulling into a modern cul de sac to find the entrance. The mansion, the largest home ever to be ordered from the Sears catalog, sits in the center of an approximately 1 acre plot, and while there you will not see or hear the suburbia crowded around you due to the owners’ horticultural efforts. The mansion itself has massive pillars and a lovely front porch strewn with comfortable furniture, and the cages for the resident rescue parrots.

The mansion has an open foyer, and a double staircase that doubles back and rejoins brings you to the second floor with spacious rooms with high ceilings and broad, original windows. Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt stayed here during his presidency, as did Winston Churchill when he visited the states. The library still retains some books and reading glasses from Secretary Ickes time.Other residents during the WWII era were several Japanese-Americans whose freedom from internment camps Ickes managed to effect. There are three resident dogs, and they have a generous policy for guests to bring pets.