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The Carriage House Rehabilitation Project
General Lew Wallace’s carriage house was built ca. 1875 on the north side of his home at 514 East Wabash Avenue in Crawfordsville, Indiana. His residence is no longer standing, although one to three rooms are incorporated in an existing 1937 dwelling. The carriage house is one of only three known extant buildings designed and constructed by General Wallace. The other two are the Study itself and the Blacherne Apartment building located in downtown Indianapolis. Wallace actively used the Study and the Blacherne for approximately the last ten years of his life. However, he used the carriage house on a regular basis for 35 years.
Wallace’s carriage house is situated in a residential neighborhood, known as the Elston Grove Historic District, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The structure is a heavy timber frame construction with elements of the Queen Anne style. The carriage house was used as a stable, hayloft, and workshop, as well as for carriage storage. It is likely the site where the majority of General Wallace’s eight U.S. patented inventions originated. His hobby of making violins might also have begun in the carriage house.
Different community groups used the carriage house from the 1940s to the early 1990s. Vacant for the past ten years, the building was noted in the 2000 Biennial National Historic Landmark Status Report as being underutilized and deteriorating. Members of the National Park Service visited the site in 2001, resulting in a condition assessment report filed in June 2002.
Over five years after a group of committed trustees and staffers first made plans to recover the carriage house General Wallace built in 1875, the Carriage House Interpretive Center was dedicated and officially opened to the public on Saturday, September 9, 2006.
“Now, we can share Wallace’s story more effectively and preserve his legacy for current and future generations,” said Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko, Director of the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum. “With its completion, we are offering new services and programming, demonstrating our historic preservation role in the community, and improving the interpretation of the Study structure.”
Two special events were held celebrating the Carriage House’s debut. Members of the Lew Wallace Study Preservation Society and donors to the Carriage House Rehabilitation Project gathered at a special members-only sneak preview event on September 25, catered by The Juniper Spoon.
“It’s wonderful to witness the positive public response we’re getting for this project,” said Dean Smoll, President of the Lew Wallace Study Preservation Society Board of Trustees. “There was a devoted team beginning this adventure over five years ago, and it continues to be a project that our entire community is invested in.”
Visitors from around the county gathered on September 9 to witness the ceremonial Grand Opening of the Carriage House and ribbon-cutting, led by Crawfordsville Mayor John Zumer. Guests were then provided a behind-the-scenes tour of the entire facility, including the expanded gift shop, catering kitchen, administrative offices and state-of-the-art collection storage facilities.
The new Lynne D. Hohlbein Education Room was outfitted with newly-constructed exhibit cabinets that showcased before-and-after photos of the Carriage House during its rehabilitation. In 2007, the cabinets will hold changing exhibits based on yearly educational themes, the first being “The Wallace Women.”
Lew Wallace Study Preservation Society
PO Box 662
Crawfordsville, IN 47933
(765) 362-5769
History
Virtual Tour
The Carriage House
Links
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