We try to keep this list of historic house museums for Indiana current, but it is best to check directly with the museums for their hours and other information.
If you know of a historic house museum not in our list, please submit it.
If you are the director of a museum in our listings and you would like to claim your listing so you are able to maintain your listing yourself, please email us at info@vpa.org and we will set you up.

Barker Mansion is the former residence of local millionaire-industrialist, John H. Barker, who built the Haskell & Barker Railroad Car Company, which later became Pullman-Standard. The mansion was built in 1857, and shortly after the elaborate 38 room structure was finished, both Mr. and Mrs. Barker passed away, leaving the mansion and the Barker fortune to their only child,… Read More

As a successful attorney, Benjamin Harrison purchased a double lot on the west side of North Delaware Street at auction in 1867. In 1874 be began construction of his 16 room Italianate style house, a carriage house, brick drive and landscaping. The cost was $24,818.67. Except for the periods 1881 to 1887, when Harrison was in the US Senate… Read More

This re-created early 20th-century village is comprised of 38 authentic buildings moved to the site. Read More

The museum consists of the 1853 Jerolaman-Long Home, a cabin, a carriage barn, and a schoolroom. Read More

Conner Prairie is an open-air living history museum. It serves as a local, regional, and national center for research and education about the lives, times, attitudes, and values of early 19th-century settlers in the Old Northwest Territory, based upon the Indiana experience. Conner Prairie features a modern Museum Center, special facilities, and three historic areas: the historic 1836 village… Read More

Governor Hendrick's Headquarters, the former home of Indiana's second elected governor, is furnished with mid-19th century antiques. Read More

The Cragun House construction was completed in 1893, by Strange Nathaniel Cragun. Born in Boone County in 1857, Strange left Boone County for a short time as a young adult, but returned in 1881 to begin a career in education. He served as principal of Whitestown, Zionsville, and Lebanon schools. In 1891, he purchased a local newspaper, the Lebanon… Read More

With its hand-painted ceilings, carved rosewood staircase, marble fireplaces and crystal chandeliers, the Culbertson Mansion reflects the affluence of a man once considered to be the wealthiest in Indiana. In 1867, William S. Culbertson spent about $120,000 to build his grand home in New Albany. The three-story French, Second-Empire mansion encompasses more than 20,000 square feet and contains 25… Read More

The Dr. James Ford Historic Home is a restored 1870s doctor's home and practice. The grounds also include period gardens, grape arbors, a small orchard, and other plantings inspired by Dr. Ford's letters and horticultural newspaper columns. Read More

The Eugene V. Debs Museum is the former house of Eugene V. Debs and Katherine Metzel Debs. After changing hands for many years, it was purchased in 1962 by a small group of Terre Hautians who had a strong admiration for Debs. It is now owned and operated by the Debs Foundation as a free museum. Read More

Architectural historians consider the Francis Costigan House a masterpiece of nineteenth century design. The house is situated on a narrow city lot measuring only 22 feet in width at 408 West Third Street in the Madison, Indiana Historic District. Costigan built this house in 1850 as his private residence. Read More

The two story log cabin of novelist Gene Stratton Porter is preserved. The house is surrounded by wood, wildflowers, and wildlife. Read More

The Ben Hur Museum was built by General Lew Wallace for use as his private library and a quiet place where he could write. The Civil War General wrote the world's most famous fictional work: Ben Hur. Wallace designed and built the structure in 1896. The building is a National Historic Landmark and home to Wallace's life collections. In… Read More

Grouseland was built about 1803 by William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the United States. This was his home when he served as the first governor of the Indiana Territory. Some of the furnishings are original. Read More

The Haan Mansion Museum of Indiana Art is more than a house museum - it is a museum of Indiana art located in an historic mansion that served as the Connecticut Building at the 1904 St Louis Worlds Fair. Parts of the Connecticut building were taken from a 1760 mansion in Norwich CT, so many of the components were… Read More

The Henry County Historical Society Museum is located in the home of Civil War General William Grose. During the Civil War, he commanded the 36th Indiana Regiment and fought at such battles as Chickamauga and Atlanta. The Italianate style house was built in 1870 by the General and his wife Rebecca after he returned to New Castle to resume… Read More

Hillforest, overlooking the Ohio River, was the home of industrialist and financier Thomas Gaff and his family between 1855 and 1891. Shipping and riverboats were significant elements of the Gaff business and are reflected in the architecture of the home. Note the third floor belvedere resembling a pilot house. The style is Italian Renaissance, completely symmetrical and characterized by… Read More

The house has been restored to its appearance in 1846, the last year that Chief Lafontaine lived in the house. The Chiefs' House was built by Chief John B. Richardville about 1834, probably in preparation for the treaty negotiations which were held at the Forks in that year. Read More

This beautiful 1894 home, built by premier steamboat builders, the Howards of Jeffersonville, features original furnishings, brass chandeliers, stained glass windows, and intricate carvings throughout and even a grand staircase! Master craftsmen from the shipyard created much of the decor in the mansion. Howard built steamboats included the luxurious J.M. White, the speedy City of Louisville and the popular… Read More

This 1872 home, a National Historic Landmark, is considered by historical experts to be one of the most perfectly preserved Victorian houses in the U.S. It was here that Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley spent the last 23 years of his life. Lockerbie Square, where the Riley home is located, is a restored 19th-century downtown residential area. Read More

The Riley Birthplace and Museum marks where noted Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley was born and lived during his boyhood. The house was built by the author's father Reuben Riley, a local attorney in 1850, and Greenfield's first mayor. Read More

The center features a reconstructed pioneer village and the restored home of statesman John Hay. The home is furnished in the 1840s period. Read More

Built for the Jeremiah Sullivan family in 1818, the house is considered Madison’s first mansion. The two-story brick dwelling exhibits fine delicate tapered reeded columns between the entrance door and sidelights, and an elliptical fanlight above. The interior is furnished in period furnishings. Read More

Lane Place was built for Henry Lane in 1845 in what is now called the Elston Grove Historic District. Lane represented Montgomery County as state representative, U.S. congressman, governor and U.S. senator. His stature as chairman of the National Republican Convention in 1856 helped secure the party’s nomination of Abraham Lincoln for president in 1860. Read More

James Franklin Doughty Lanier was one of Madison’s pioneers. Lanier’s good fortune in business allowed him to hire Madison architect Francis Costigan to design and build for him the grandest residence ever imagined in Madison. The home was built on the same riverfront property where he had lived with his family since the 1820s. The Lanier Mansion was completed… Read More

To the thousands of escaped slaves, an eight-room Federal-style brick home in Newport (Fountain City), Indiana, became a safe haven on their journey to Canada. This was the home of Levi and Catharine Coffin, North Carolina Quakers who opposed slavery. During the 20 years they lived in Newport, the Coffins helped more than 2,000 slaves reach safety. Read More

The two story Limberlost Cabin, home of author, photographer, and naturalist Gene Stratton Porter was built using white cedar logs and redwood shingles. It was designed to blend in with the environment. The home contains some of her original furnishings, personal belongings, and photographic works. Read More

The Moore-Youse Home Museum contains numerous artifacts of Historic Muncie, including furnishings, paintings, documents, and photos. Read More

The restored Second Empire style home was completed in 1865. The museum represents local Victorian family lifestyles using period furniture, rich floral carpets and draperies, elegant chandeliers, intricate mantelpieces and other woodwork. Read More

The Moses Fowler House is a Gothic Revival home built by Moses Fowler in 1851-1852. Fowler, one of the area's leading merchants and cattlemen, was anxious to have a home reflecting his social status. A book entitled Architecture of Country Houses, by A. J. Downing, illustrated popular floor plans of the day and may have served as a guide… Read More

Oldfields, an estate of the American Country Place era, is a rare surviving example in the Midwest of an important period in American landscape history. Its house, gardens and grounds were laid out in the 1910s and 1920s at a time when wealthy families were leaving the city to build expansive country estates. The house, built by Hugh McKennon… Read More

Built in 1871 for John Augustus Reitz, this French Second Empire style mansion was a showcase for the "Lumber Baron of the United States."" The interior features original and period furnishings Read More

The 1908 Beaux Arts style mansion was home to A.R. Beardsley, one of the founders of Miles Laboratories. The mansion is decorated with restored velvet and silk wall coverings and ornately painted ceilings. The exterior features a wrap-around marble veranda. The tour also includes the attached greenhouse and garage, which includes three classic automobiles. Read More

Built in 1814 by Joel and Mary Scribner, this simple wood-frame, Federal-style structure is the oldest building in New Albany. The two-and-one-half story house has a basement, two parlors, and a hall on the first floor, three bedrooms and a hall on the second floor. A two-level rear porch provides a spectacular view of the Ohio River. Today the… Read More

Construction on the Seiberling Mansion began in October 1889 and was completed in the fall of 1891. The house was built for Monroe Seiberling of Akron, Ohio at a cost of $50,000. The architecture of the house is a mixture of Neo-Jacobean (Queen Anne) and Romanesque Revival styles. It was designed by Arthur LaBelle of Marion, Indiana. The mansion… Read More

The Shrewsbury house has twelve rooms, thirteen fireplaces and a fifty-three step spiral staircase. The floor to ceiling windows are thirteen feet tall. A man on horseback could easily step through the enormous front door. Read More

The park has a number of historic buildings such as an 1816 house, a doctor's office, a barn, and a school house. Read More

The T.C. Steele State Historic Site includes the last home and studio of Indiana artist Theodore Clement Steele (1847-1926) and his second wife Selma Neubacher Steele (1870-1945). Steele purchased the land that now comprises the T.C. Steele State Historic Site in early 1907. That spring, he built a home and brought a wife to what became known as the… Read More

Jonas Gaar and his sons, Abram and John Milton Gaar, and Jonas' son-in-law, William G. Scott were founders of Gaar-Scott and Company, the leading manufacturer of threshing machines and steam engines from 1842 to 1911. Read More

Built circa 1816 in the Federal style, this is believed to be the first two-storied tavern house in Madison. Read More

This is the home of Vice-President Thomas Riley Marshall. He lived here for over 30 years, while working as a lawyer in Columbia City. He moved in 1908, as being elected Governor of Indiana. He went on to serve one term as Governor, before being elected Vice President (1913-1921). We also interpret the history of Whitley County, including the… Read More

Built in 1835, Wylie House was the home of Indiana University's first president, Andrew Wylie, and his family. Today Wylie House is owned and operated by Indiana University as an historic house museum recreating the Wylie home prior to 1860. The house is distinctive and unusual for south-central Indiana, a blend of Federal and Georgian styles of architecture more… Read More