Posted in: Then & Now No Longer Standing- 2408 N. Meridian

Meridian Street. The name alone has prestige. Say you live or have an office on this street, and you have instant cool and cache. The mention of the name of our city’s east/ west division...

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Posted in: A Room with a View A Room with a View – Eden-Talbott House

Scraping away an iced up window from a Delaware Street apartment building reveals the Eden-Talbott House, now home to a local law firm. Just north of 13th on North Delaware Street, the Eden-Talbott home was built...

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Posted in: Indianapolis Collected Indianapolis Collected: The Mystery of the Missing Mantels

Daisy McKay was only 16 years old when her parents broke ground on a fine brick mansion at the corner of 13th and Broadway. The new Statehouse was under construction at the time, and her father purchased quarter-sawn oak...

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Posted in: Sunday Ads Sunday Ads: Button It!

 Colonel Mustard… in the Library… with a Button Hook. Wait. What’s a button hook?  Long before the invention of spandex and Velcro, our ancestors wore a number of button-up garments, such as shoes, dresses and gloves....

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Posted in: In the Park In the Park: Picnic Time

Young girls on a picnic circa 1946. When you don’t have a picnic basket, a stock pot will work just fine! Image: courtesy Flanner House Records, Indiana Historical Society There’s nothing more relaxing than wiling...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Friday Favorite: Culture Club

Front of The Propylaeum (also known as the John W. Schmidt House), located at 1410 N. Delaware Street in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Built in 1890, it is listed on the National Register of Historic...

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Posted in: Sunday Prayers Sunday Prayers: 2015 N. Senate Ave.

 We meet again, plywood. Once more you grace the windows of an aged Victorian. Though you mark a property as uninhabited, you blend into the beige paint. I hardly notice you. No, I pay heed...

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Posted in: Building Language Building Language: Festoon

Festoon on 1400 Block of Broadway Street Festoon. Recently, I covered the term ornament as it pertains generally to historic architecture. Today’s Building Language is a specific type of architectural ornament that is certainly fun to...

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Posted in: Building Language Building Language: Ornament

Ornament. I’ve realized I’ve thrown this architectural term around with some frequency without really analyzing what it means to the historic architecture of Indianapolis. Ornament is a broad term that applies to architectural detail that...

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Posted in: Sunday Prayers Sunday Prayers: Indy’s Belle Epoch

Ok, I’m stretching it just a bit- the Belle Epoque is more 1871-1914 France, while the Victorian era is 1837-1901 England. The Victorian Society in America uses 1837-1917. Whatever the years, they were long ago...

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Posted in: A Room with a View Room With a View: 2050 North Delaware

It’s always fun checking out the views from within the confines of an historic home–the romantic in my inevitably ponders how much the streetscape has changed or remained the same in the past 100+ years....

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Favorite Fridays: Wishard Estate

For those of us who are overly sentimental and who also happen to live in historic homes, it seems a common practice–maybe even a point of pride–to refer to the home not with the surname...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Fletcher Triangle Park Brookside and Arsenal Avenues

“Placemaking” is a popular word among planning types these days. The word originated in the 1960s and refers to the philosophy and process of creating places where people will want to gather. As expressed in...

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Posted in: Then & Now Indianapolis Then and Now: Swain Sanatorium 608 Middle Drive, Woodruff Place

A research project is never finished as new materials constantly come to light. After writing about Dr. Rachel Swain’s Sanatorium last April, I found a booklet about the hospital.  The fragile, sixteen-page booklet is carefully...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Friday Favorite: There Ain’t Nothin Like a Dame…

…Especially a Queen Anne! Within the boundaries of King Park Area CDC,  check out these couple of shapely Queen Annes! I love nothing better than a beautifully restored Victorian with a great color scheme.  ...

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Posted in: Friday Favorites Friday Favorite: South Meridian Queen Anne- 3 blocks from Stadium

Hard to believe there is real estate like this within easy walking distance/ view of Indy’s biggest stadium, but indeed, there is! I am a big fan of Queen Anne Victorians–especially with a turret! This...

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Posted in: Ladies Lounge Ladies Lounge: Dr. Mary Spink, one of our earliest doctors

Dr. Mary Spink, Indiana Medical College Graduate of 1886 One of the first female doctors of Indianapolis was Dr. Mary Spink. Despite the strenuous opposition of her immediate family and being frowned upon by the...

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Posted in: Sunday Prayers Sunday Prayers: Demo List House on Woodlawn

Was wandering around Fountain Square and other parts east of the Mile Square earlier this week (more  foreshadowing: got an upcoming article about why my next house in Indianapolis would be in Fountain Square) and...

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Posted in: Editorial Victorian Home Inspiration

It was discontinued for a time, but the more time I spend exploring Indianapolis, the more places I find that captivate me. Today’s example makes me smile. What is more beautiful than a lovingly restored...

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Posted in: Ladies Lounge 1837- The Beginning of the Victorian Era

It’s difficult for the untrained eye to discern the subtle changes in the pantheon of Victorian era fashion.  Periodically, we’ll look at eras that Indianapolis, too, endured. This is an example of an 1837 wedding...

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