Staub House - 342 North College Avenue
Year Built:1859Architectural Style: Federal Key Features: Flat, Smooth Facade Light Detail on Door Surround and BalconyThis house was restored by Indiana Landmarks following the plans of H. Roll McLaughlin who is the great grandson of Joseph Staub, the original owner. Staub emigrated from Alsace, a German –speaking province of western France and became an American citizen in 1848. His wife Magdalena Garf Staub was German born. The Staubs came to Indianapolis in 1854 from Cincinnati as had many other Indiana Germans. Staub was the first merchant tailor in Indianapolis and during the Civil War produced Union Army uniforms in the house. After the war, he maintained a tailor shop on Monument Circle until his death in 1896. The house remained with the descendants until 1938. Landmarks purchased it in 1965.The Staub house is an outstanding example of Federal Style.
542 Lockerbie Street
Year Built: 1894-1895Architectural Style: Queen AnneKey Features:Dominant Front Facing Gable Avoidance of a Smooth, Flat Facade Decorative Details - Scalloped Siding and Porch Flourish Henry Runge built this two and a half story frame Queen Anne style house in 1894-95. A house stood here in 1866 and may have been integrated into the present house...it is unknown. The house purchased by the Indianapolis Day Nursery along with the small brick cottage to the west and a large lot on Vermont Street in 1926 and made it its home until 1970. As such it had several additions attached to it and a gymnasium to the rear that had to be removed. Bob and Helen Small took on this Herculean effort through their own sweat and labor. At that time, no bank would finance restoration efforts in this neighborhood that was filled with houses with demolition numbers painted on them.So Bob and Helen did it a room at a time over many years. Please note the photos of the condition of the structure as they addressed the restoration challenge. The inside had very old linoleum laid down with a layer of tar. The Smalls carefully removed it and found beautiful oak parquet floors ringed with inlays of cherry and walnut. The paneled stair wall and the fret work framing the entrance to the stair in the entrance hall were all painted industrial green which Helen painstakingly removed to return it to its original grandeur. In 2013 the Smalls downsized and moved to 325 Park Avenue. The restoration of this large home has been taken to the next level by its current owner. In 1976 a next door gymnasium was also removed.
James Whitcomb Riley Museum Home - 528 Lockerbie Street
Year Built: 1872Architectural Style: ItalianateKey Features:Decorative Brackets Fully Arched Windows with Decorative Crowns and Keystone Low Pitched RoofThis house was built in 1872 by John R. Nickum, a partner in the baking firm of Parrott & Nickum Company. It was designed by architect, Robert Plat Daggett. Poet, James Whitcomb Riley spent the last 23 years of his life here as a paying guest of Major and Mrs. Charles Holstein. Mrs. Holstein was Nickum’s daughter. Riley died in 1916 and the house was closed. Through efforts of Booth Tarkington, other authors and friends of Riley, the home and its contents were purchased for a museum. Since 1923, the property has been owned and maintained by the James Whitcomb Riley Memorial Association. The house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, recorded on the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1971 and is a National Historic Landmark. It architectural style is Italianate.The Riley Home has been a foundational influence for Lockerbie Square and has an anchor for the neighborhood. The neighborhood has its 4th of July celebration in the side yard for many years and meets monthly in its Educational Center. The Billie Lou Wood Educational Center is the east yard was built in 2012, designed by architect, James T. Kienle, FAIA who is an preservation architect who lives in the neighborhood, . We invite you to return to the Riley Home at another time and plan to spend at least an hour touring the home and grounds. It is unique to have all of the original contents and not just some time “of the period”.
Katie Kindell Cottage - 517 Lockerbie Street
Year Built: 1856Architectural Style: Double- PenKey Features:Two Entry Doors- One For Each "Pen" Central Gable Facade Length PorchMiss Katie Kindell, James Whitcomb Riley’s housekeeper, lived in this small, one story frame cottage built in 1856. In 2004, the owner added the very large addition to the back, allowing for the historical integrity to remain intact while expanding the home.
Foote House - 527 Lockerbie Street
Year Built: 1855Architectural Style: Greek Revival with Victorian InfluencesKey Features:Pediment with Band of Trim Symmetrical Aesthetic Spindling and Decorative BracketsMary Foote was the daughter of Janet McQuat, who platted Lockerbie Street. Mary built the original house in 1855 and sold it a year later to Martin Igoe. The porch, the gable on the façade and the trim at the eaves are a Victorian addition. The original house was Greek Revival and was oriented to face East Street. During the 1970s- 1980s Mary Tarzian owned the house and was reported to have wanted it to be the mayor’s formal residence but that never came to be. It was restored exquisitely in the 1990s and is the favorite locate for neighborhood event.
537 Lockerbie Street
Year Built: 1872-1873Architectural Style: ShotgunKey Features:One Room Wide and Three Rooms Deep Gable Front Clapboard SidingThe cottage is typical of Lockerbie Square, particularly the gabled cottages around the corner on Park Street. However, it should be noted that it is built to the sidewalk and may actually be in the right-of-way but there were no laws back then requiring a certain number of feet of “set back”. Built by Rev Thomas Evans, who was considered to be a great revivalist and abolitionist. It fell into disrepair and in the 1970s Don Bollinger, a retired fire chief, bought it, restored it and used it as a watch shop...thus referred to by neighbors as “the watch shop”. Its current owners out grew the small cottage and it has become a sought after rental property in this prime location.
543 Lockerbie Street
Year Built: 2010Architectural Style: I-House InfluenceKey Features:One Room Deep and Three Rooms Wide- Two Story Small Crowns Above Doors and Windows Clapboard SidingThis house sits on a lot that was vacant for many years and served as the neighborhood park. Cookouts, Volleyball games, etc. and just groups of neighbors visiting together would gather on the lot. The owner passed away and the heirs sold the lot to the highest bidder. The neighborhood tried very hard to buy it but could not raise enough money fast enough. That owner held the lot for 5 years and sold it for significantly more than the neighborhood could afford. So the couple who bought it hired architect, Mark Demerly, AIA to design a house. It divided the neighborhood for a while but the house has become part of our history now. It has a gable in on the east side to match the other cottages just to the south on Park Avenue and a formal front on Lockerbie Street to be more contextual with the neighboring larger homes on that street.
325 & 321 North Park Avenue
Year Built: 1864 Architectural Style: Gothic Stick and StickKey Features:Board-and-Batten Siding Decorative Gothic Arches Above Windows Decorative Half Timbering and Stickwork on GableThis gothic stick style house was built in 1864 by George Schribner at 1426 West Washington Street. It was going to be demolished in its previous location and the house on at 325 Park Avenue had been demolished. Indiana Landmarks saved the house and moved it to its current location to be renovated by a new owner.The story and 1⁄2 cottage on the corner at 321 Park Avenue was built in 1864 by James Pierce, a teamster. The charming stick style cottage fell into significant disrepair and escaped demolition only because three local women (Lorraine Price, Melissa Goldsmith, and Brenda Huston) bought and restored for resale in 1977.The new owner of the blue cottage and buyer of the pink cottage fell in love and requested permission from the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission to connect the two cottages so that they could get married. They connected the two with the solarium and married in the side yard in 1980 with most of the neighbors in attendance. The couple lived in these connected houses until the husband passed away and the wife moved to Florida. In 2013 the Smalls who initiated the rebirth of Lockerbie Square in the 1970s downsized from 542 Lockerbie Street (across the street) to 325 N Park Avenue. The separated the two structures with a wall in the solarium and sold 321 to a young couple who celebrated their wedding with a "second line" parade down Lockerbie Street with dancing in the street at Park and Lockerbie for the wedding party and neighbors in 2018.
331, 333, & 329 North Park Avenue
Year Built: Circa 1860sArchitectural Style: Gable-Front and I-HouseKey Features:331 - Shotgun Style with Full Length Porch 333 - Fishscale and Clapboard Siding, Spindling, and Full Length Porch 329 - Simple, Smooth Facade with I-House LayoutThese three vernacular cottages built between 1861-1868, which are typical of Lockerbie Square aesthetic. This brick cottage is one of the oldest of the style in Lockerbie Square (1861).
345 North Park Avenue
Year Built: 1977Architectural Style: Key Features:Low Pitch RoofThis is the second new house in Lockerbie, built in 1977 by Jim and Barbara Lee. Raymond Ogle, was the architect on the project.
349 North Park Avenue
Year Built: 1849Architectural Style:Key Features:Multiple Front Gables Fishscale Siding Spindles as Porch SupportsThis house has gone through many changes over the years including 1861 and 1900. In the early 1970s, Jean Spear, an early urban pioneer, renovated it and lived there for many years until she moved to Ransom Place to help start a revitalization movement in an historic African American neighborhood. Bill and Susie Powers lived there for a number of years and were instrumental in the upkeep of the neighborhood. The house went through a complete remodeling to update it inside in 2012 and was sold to our past mayor Bart Peterson and his wife.
353 North Park Avenue
Year Built: 1860Architectural Style: FederalKey Features:Sidelights on Door Surround End Chimney Refined and Balanced AestheticGerman born Friedrick Thoms, a furniture manufacturer, built this late Federal style house in 1860. He was active in public life in Indianapolis and served on the City Common Council in 1869 to 1872 and was one of the founders of the German General Protestant Orphans Home in 1867 (about fifteen minutes away at 1404 South State street). It was renovated in the late 1970s and has had continual updates as new families move in.
401 North Park Avenue
Year Built: 1860 and 1870Architectural Style: ItalianateKey Features:Decorative Brackets Decorative Window Hoods Low Pitch RoofThis Italianate house is a large, two story frame structure which was once smaller than it is today. The Palladian window on the south elevation is an element typical of the Colonial Revival style and gives the house an eclectic appearance. The west wing and porch were added around 1870. The small brick carriage house behind is one of the few original carriage houses remaining in Lockerbie Square today. The stone step on the west side was inexplicably added when Lockerbie Square was a red light district some time prior to a renovation in the 1970s.
Clapboard Cottages - 413, 411, & 407-409 North Park Avenue
Year Built: 1860-1870Architectural Style: Gable FrontKey Features:Clapboard Siding Light Decorative Detailing - Brackets and VergeboardThese three vernacular clapboard cottages were typical of the neighborhood in the mid to late 1800s and were all restored in the 1970s- 1980s. The little yellow cottage at 407-409 has several interesting features which distinguish it from its neighbors. The eaves have a wide overhang with carved rafter tails and the gable overhang is supported with elaborately sawn brackets. The second-floor double window has hexagonal vents with heavey molded caps, The form and detailing of this cottage suggest a Swiss chalet. The house was built by German-immigrant and civic leader Hermann Lieber, founder of H. Lieber and Commpany, photograhic supply company, co-founder of the German-English Independent School and Das Deutsche Haus (the Athenaeum today). .
The Lockerbie Glove Condos - 430 North Park Avenue
Year Built: 1904 and 1984Architectural Style:Key Features:The Indianapolis Glove Company was established in 1904 by Brodehurst Elsey (1878– 1968) and Charles F. Zwick (1869–1946). It was known for producing Red Apple work gloves with a logo consisting of an apple and the words “Indian Apple Us Gloves.” Over several decades, the company grew to be the country’s third largest manufacturer of work gloves, offering more than six hundred styles of gloves under different labels for various industries. It was still in business up until it moved the business to Mexico and sold the building to a development tean to be converted to residences in 1984. James T. Kienle, FAIA was Architect of Record for the project which was the first conversion of a commercial structure to residential use in Indiana.
Lockerbie Glove Townhouses
Year Built: 1983-1985Key Features:This block of attached rowhouses was constructed in 1983-1985 in tandem with the rehabilitation of the old Indianapolis Gove Company factory building. At the time of the construction of the townhomes, it was a very large parking lot surrounded by the wall that you see...the only thing remaining of the Little Sisters of the Poor’s home for the aged which was demolished in 1968 when it relocated to 86th Street near what was then the new St. Vincent Hospital. These homes are “of their own time” which is required by the Secretary of the Interior for Rehabilitation standards but are contextual to what would have been there as well as the remaining historic fabric of Lockerbie Square. They take then entire block and filled in the “missing teeth” of the urban wall restoring the urban density that gives Lockerbie Square its village like feeling. James T. Kienle, FAIA was Architect of Record.
531 East Vermont Street
Year Built: 1973Architectural Style: I-HouseKey Features:Brick and Frame Construction Simple Aesthetic Small Windows Over DoorThis brick house was the first new home in Lockerbie Square and the first in the downtown for many decades and officially kicked off the revitalization of the neighborhood. Indiana Supreme Court Justice, Roger DeBruler and his wife, Karen had the home built in 1973 on the site of the John F Holt house and on what, at the time, was the playground of the Indianapolis Day Nursery (IDN). The DeBrulers bought the entire IDN property which included two houses on Lockerbie Street. The well-known Indianapolis architect H. Roll McLaughlin, FAIA, designed the house and the DeBrulers lived there until the Justice's death in 2017. The house was renovated and an addition was added in 2020.
523 East Vermont Street
Year Built: 1885Architectural Style: StickKey Features:Decorative Half Timbering Decorative Vergeboard and Brackets Clapboard SidingBuilt by the David and Maria Wiley in the stick style, it is larger than their cottage next door with both being built as a rental property. Patty and Dennis Wright faithfully restored in the early 1970s, raising their family and living there for 42 years until 2017.
Wiley Cottage - 519 East Vermont Street
Year Built: 1885Architectural Style: StickKey Features:Decorative Timbering Clapboard Siding Decorative Detailing on Window SurroundThe Wiley Cottage is a good example of a stick style cottage. The shutters with the flowers are original and are a real favorite for people walking through the neighborhood. The Wileys lived in this cottage and built the two stick style cottages to the east for rental properties. At some point the Catholic Church owned the house which was true to several houses in the neighborhood. During the 1970s the James Whitcomb Riley Foundation owned the house and Mrs. Trabue, the caretaker of the Riley House Museum lived there. It sold when she no longer was caretaker and in the early 2000s, it was totally updated on the inside and a sensitive addition was added to the rear.
Townhomes
Year Built:late 1990sArchitectural Style:Key Features:The beautiful townhome on the north west corner of East and Vermont was built in the late 1990s by Andre and Julia Lacy and the other townhouses to the west followed. They filled a very large and ugly parking lot.
345 North East Street
Year Built:1889Architectural Style:Key Features:Clapboard and Shingle Siding Large Wrap Porch Decorative Brackets Square Details in Windows and DoorsThis two story frame house was built as a rooming house and serves today as a Bed and Breakfast. It had much of its exterior restored in 1986 including the reconstruction of much of the front porch . The current owner grew up on East Lockerbie Street and is part of a family that has lived in the neighborhood since the late 40’s or early 50s. Her husband grew up in the grey clapboard double house next door and his grandmother built 345 N East Street as an income producing property..
Corner Park - 330 North East Street
Year Built: Circa 1980The lovely garden on the corner of East and Vermont replaced a gas station that was demolished between 1978 and 1980...about the same time as the townhouses were built. The first owner of the adjacent townhome (Bruce and Toni Cordingley) wanted the yard for a garden and a covenant was placed on it that requires it to be open to the public at least once a year. The current owner, Emily West, has maintained and expanded the beauty of the garden for all to see as they walk through our neighborhood.The historic photo shows what was on the property before the garden. The gas station on the corner was replaced with the park and the townhomes replace the parking lot.
East Street Townhomes - 316-324 North East Street
Year Built: Circa 1980sArchitectural Style: Gable FrontKey Features:Simple, Smooth Facade Tall, Narrow Windows Clapboard Siding and Brick ConstructionArchitect Ewing Miller, FAIA designed the East Street Townhouses which were the first new homes built in the downtown for decades , They were a new concept for downtown and were distinctive for that time. They all were brick with stone lintels and gabled front filling empty lots and a gas station. The original plan had houses all the way to the corner but the Cordingleys, orginal buyer of the north townhouse, also bought the corner lot and has preserved it as a park.
335-337 North East Street
Year Built: 1866-1867Architectural Style: I-HouseKey Features:Symmetrical Facade with Two Entry Doors One Room Deep Decorative BracketsThis brick two story double was also built by brick mason William Keely. It fell into disrepair until Carolyn and Terry Bradbury restored it in the early 1970’s and still live there today...having raised their family there. The Bradburys were some of the very earliest urban pioneers to move into the neighborhood and their son is now doing the same in Cottage Home neighborhood.
331-333 North East Street
Year Built: 1876Architectural Style: Italianate Key Features: Decorative Brackets Pedimental Crowns Above Windows Hexagonal Lights Along RooflineThis two story brick double residence was the first of three rental doubles built on East Street by brick mason William H. Keely. The house appears to be a hybrid of Federal and Italianate styles. It fell into disrepair until the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity faithfully restored it for use as their headquarters in 1980. They opened the wall between the two units to make it one building but otherwise kept the historical detail inside and out. In 2008 a local developer bought the structure, returned it to two homes; gutting the inside to make it completely contemporary and appealing the new urban market.
501-503 Lockerbie Street
Year Built: 1978Architectural Style:Key Features:Large Bay Window Low Hipped Roof Simple Brick ConstructionIn 1978, Don Perry, Architect designed the new home, garage & apartment on a large vacant lot on the corner of Lockerbie and East Streets. This was the third new home constructed with the redevelopment of Lockerbie Square. It was significant to the revitalization effort as the owner, Tom Binford, was a highly recognized “mover and shaker” for Indianapolis and was ranked by the Indianapolis Business Journal as the most active corporate director in Indianapolis in 1985. His re-location of his residence to the neighborhood was a real boost to those who thought no one would live downtown.
Tate Willis House - 228 North East Street
Year Built:Architectural Style: German RevivalKey Features:Stone Detailing Large Tower with Steeple Door and Window Archways with KeystonesWilliam Tate built the impressive two and a half story house, replacing a one story dwelling. He was a native of Lawrenceburg, Indiana where he owned a mill and furniture company and moved to Indianapolis in 1860 to start a mill here. The house is of a German Renaissance style and was designed by a German trained architect. Cecil Willis and his wife owned the house for nearly 40 years from 1961 until the Gaunts purchased it in 2000.
The Cyrus Place/The Lockerbie Square United Methodist Church - 237 North East Street
Year Built: 1882-1883Architectural Style: German RevivalKey Features:Fully Rounded Arches over Doors and Windows Stained Glass Windows Large Belltower with Steeply Pitched RoofThis church has had many names but started as the German Evangelical Church with a congregation of German immigrants. Built in 1882-1883, it was designed by D.A. Bohlen, a German born and trained architect. A German inscription on the cornerstone was chiseled off during the anti-German sentiment during the First World War. It is a German Romanesque Revival style or “Rundbogenstil” meaning “round arches. Most recently is was owned by the United Methodist Church and in addition to Sunday services it had a daily coffee house and various entertainment events geared to young adults. In 2016 it became an event center called Cyrus Place and has a popular coffee shop on the east side of the building.
Townhomes on New York Street
Year Built: 2005Please look at the photo of the used car lot that was on this site during the 1970s. It later became a parking lot until it was developed into the townhouses in the mid 2000s seen there today. Early pioneers on the north side of New York Street knew that it would be redeveloped some day but did not know that they would have to wait 30 years.
536 East New York Street
Year Built: 1872Architectural Style: T-PlanKey Features:Decorative Pediments Over Windows Spindle Work on Porch Supports Large Front GableThis is the first of the historic in-fill houses moved to Lockerbie by Indiana Landmarks & the neighborhood to save an endangered structure and bring life back to the empty lots. It was originally located at 916 N Broadway in what is today Chatham Arch historic district. However, had it not been moved to this site it would have been in a land fill or buried on that site. The house was built by Frederick Faut, a proprietor of a flour and seed store and a civil war medal of honor awardee.The house was moved in 1976 and architect James T. Kienle, FAIA and his wife,Marjorie, spent the next 9 months (their biggest baby) restoring it through the very first financing package from a bank in many years...breaking financial barriers that held back the re-development effort. Being the 1st house move, many things were learned: including not to go for the cheapest bid. As the house was moved back over the steel rails, one of the rails snapped at a welded join and the house dropped into the new concrete block basement. The dropped caused the loss of some of the interior historic plaster but the 1872 hand painted ceiling in the parlor was saved. In 1985 the carriage house with an apartment above was added.
Governor Ray House - 302 North Park Avenue
Year Built: 1835Architectural Style: Greek Revival Key Features:Symmetrical Facade with Central Doorway Sidelights on Door SurroundThis Greek Revival house has stood at least three different locations. It was originally erected about 1835 by former Governor James Brown Ray at the corner of Pearl & Alabama Streets. Ray served as Governor from 1825 to 1831. After his term he practiced law in Indianapolis. A German immigrant Henry Buscher purchased the house in 1849 and from then until 1897 a member of that family lived there. Then the site was acquired for the Marion County jail and the house was moved to 905 St. Peter Street. Anton H Stick, a clerk at Vonnegut’s Hardware, purchased the house in 1908. It was occupied by members of his family until 1939. In 1977, the last owner sold the house to the city and it was moved by Indiana Landmarks and the neighborhood to its current site. The house was moved and restored in 1977. The garage was built in 1985 and with the house occupies the site of two houses. A third house historically was located on the gravel lot to the north.After the move, the house was very faithfully restored by James Nice even to the point of replacing broken window panes with historic glass. The garage was one of the first new carriage houses in the neighborhood to create coveted rental units above.
314 North Park Avenue
Year Built: 1864 Architectural Style: Gable FrontKey Features:Decorative Vergeboard Decorative Spindle Work on Porch Decorative BracketsAlfred Foster constructed this house in 1864. It is a typical story and a half frame house of the period but the details were probably added in the late nineteenth century to augment the appearance. Such an elaborate porch is unique in Lockerbie Square. It was first renovated in the late 1970s with updates in painting and landscaping from the current owners.
320 North Park Avenue
Year Built: 1885Architectural Style: Gable FrontKey Features:Clapboard Siding Full Front Porch Decorative Windows Above DoorThis home was recently restored and was one of the last restored homes in the center of Lockerbie Square.
324 North Park Avenue
Year Built: 1863Architectural Style: Gable FrontKey Features:Decorative Details and Spindle Work on Porch Clapboard Siding Pediment Over EntrywayThis cottage was built by George Holler, a German born plasterer who was very active with German organizations in Indianapolis. In 1886, he sold it to Charles Heun, a cabinet maker who lived there with his family for many years. The house fell into significant disrepair and in 1975 the cottage was restored by Indiana Landmarks as one of the first “Flip” houses (now known as the Endangered Places Project). In 1975-76 the cottage was the field office of the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee and the Indianapolis Bicentennial Committee. It is featured in the recent publication by Indiana Landmarks; "Rescued and Restored".This is the last stop on our tour! Historic Urban Neighborhoods of Indianapolis and Indiana Landmarks thanks you for joning us! Consider taking one of other fantasic tours on PocketSights!
