Mrs. Hoover Builds Her Dream House

Lou Henry Hoover was a talented and interesting woman.

Mr. and Mrs. Hoover: The First Twenty Years

Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) and Lou Henry Hoover (1874-1944) were an unusual couple, and well suited to each other. Both were born in Iowa, and moved west in their early youth. Her family was middle class and educated. His was poor, and even the doctor-uncle who raised him when his parents died, was far from wealthy.

Herbert Hoover’s birthplace

Lou Hoover’s childhood home.

The two of them met at Stanford University, had a mostly courtship by correspondence, and married in 1899. Stanford would forever have a special place in their hearts.

But from the onset of their marriage, they were generally rootless, living wherever Bert’s mining engineering duties took him. They were mostly exotic places… China, Burma, Ceylon, Egypt, and various locations throughout Europe. Having become a self-made millionaire prior to the start of…