Cottage Home Historic District
Encyclopedia
The Cottage Home Historic District (also known as the Cottage Home Conservation District) is a historic district
and neighborhood located on the near east side of Indianapolis, Indiana
. A small portion of Cottage Home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
while a larger area is listed on the state and local levels. Known for its preponderance of "cottage-style" homes built with strong Victorian
influences, Cottage Home has historically been a working class
neighborhood. Numerous industrial buildings are also scattered throughout the district, providing a base of economic activity. Today, however, many of these buildings are vacant, providing a special challenge to preservation and urban renewal
efforts.
After a period of urban decay in the 1960s and '70s, common to inner-city neighborhoods in Indianapolis, Cottage Home has since stemmed the loss of historic buildings and is now home to a flourishing and diverse community. Key to the area's improvement was the establishment of the Cottage Home Neighborhood Association (CHNA) in 1984, whose efforts halted the razing of residential properties by local businesses, and a renewed interest in restoring the area's homes. The Ruskaup-Ratcliffe house and store are the most architecturally significant buildings in the district, anchoring the district's addition to the National Register in 1990. Cottage Home was further expanded to its largest bounds at the state level in 1995 and local designation of the Ruskaup-Ratcliffe house and store followed. In 2008, the state bounds, encompassing 320 parcels and 292 properties, were designated as a Conservation District by the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission.
, to the north by the Windsor Park neighborhood, to the east by Arsenal Technical High School
and the Woodruff Place Historic District
and to the south by the Holy Cross neighborhood. Most of the district is built on a traditional grid plan
, broken up by Pogue's Run
cutting across the southeast portion.
on February 23, 1990.
right-of-way between I-70
/I-65
and Dorman Street to the west, 10th Street to the north, Oriental Street to the east, and Michigan Street to the south. As the Ruskaup-Ratcliffe house and store had already been designated locally by the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission, the local boundaries do not include those two properties, while the state boundaries do. Including the Ruskaup-Ratcliffe house and store, Cottage Home contains 320 parcels and 292 buildings, over half of which are residential.
citizens. The land south of St. Clair Street belonged to Noah Noble
, fifth Governor of Indiana
who bankrupted the State with the passage of the Indiana Mammoth Internal Improvement Act
. The land north of St. Clair Street belonged to Robert Hanna
, who was a member of the Indiana constitutional convention and succeeded Noble's brother James
as U.S. Senator upon James's death in 1831. After the railroad reached Indianapolis in 1847, the resulting economic boom pushed the city's boundaries out beyond the Mile Square
. By the end of the Civil War
, the arsenal
, which would later be adapted for use as Arsenal Technical High School
, was built on the eastern border of Cottage Home and the streetcar reached St. Clair Street just a few blocks to the west, providing access to jobs for the area's residents. The Noble farm was platted in 1865 and the Hanna farm in 1868, and both additions were annexed to the City of Indianapolis in 1870.
After annexation, Cottage Home experienced strong growth in housing. Almost 400 households were located in the area by 1900, nearly three-quarters of which were being rented. Initially, most of the residents of Cottage Home were immigrant families or African American
, though that percentage steadily declined into the twentieth century. Among these early residents was Louisa Magruder, daughter of Tom Magruder, the slave of Gov. Noble who is said to be the titular inspiration for Uncle Tom's Cabin
. This strong growth in housing and population was accompanied by an expansion in the commercial and industrial sectors, due to the neighborhood's proximity to the railroad and streetcar. By 1915, new construction largely ended, and the architectural character of the area was established.
Indianapolis continued to experience strong growth through the 1960s and 70s, but the population of Cottage Home and other inner-city neighborhoods was reduced by migration to the suburbs in the process of urban sprawl
. As Cottage Home was within the flood zone of Pogue's Run
, residents began to leave for other areas. In addition, I-70
/I-65
's construction required demolishing homes on the west side of the neighborhood, leaving it bordered with a high-traffic roadway. By the 1980s, more than 100 houses had been demolished in Cottage Home. A renewed interest in historic restoration and the establishment of the Cottage Home Neighborhood Association (CHNA) in 1984 reversed the demolition trend; the area has since lost only six homes to fire or demolition. CHNA led the effort for the unique neighborhood to be designated as a historic district, achieving addition to the National Register of Historic Places
in 1990, the State Register in 1995, and city designation in 2008. Today, while infill has been slow, the neighborhood continues as a vibrant and active community.
-style cottages. All historic residential properties fall under these styles, with the notable exception of the Ruskaup-Ratcliffe house, which combines Romanesque Revival
features with Queen Anne architecture. Commercial and industrial buildings in the district were usually built either in the Italianate
tradition or the Art Deco
style, depending on their age.
Residences in Cottage Home are typified by spindlework porches, turned posts, gable ornaments, variegated and fishscale shingling and gingerbread trim, features often found in Queen Anne and Folk Victorian homes. These types of detailing were placed on simple folk homes
as an inexpensive way to provide varied design and personalization. This practice was common in Victorian-era working class neighborhoods such as Cottage Home.
immigrant who came to the United States in 1869 at the age of 25. By 1875, he purchased two lots on Dorman Street in present-day Cottage Home. At 713 Dorman Street, he opened a grocery store and the Ruskaup family lived upstairs. He added as L-shaped addition to the north and east of the store in 1885. The success of his grocery store and many rental properties allowed Ruskaup in 1892 to hire the prominent Indianapolis architecture firm Vonnegut & Bohn
to design a house for his family next door at 711 Dorman Street. Descendants of Frederick Ruskaup lived at the house and operated the store until 1957, when it was sold to the Ratcliffe sisters. The properties were sold again in the 1980s to their current owner. The house has been restored and the store has had extensive facade improvements.
The Ruskaup grocery store was built in the Italianate
style, common to Midwestern
buildings in the 1870s. Attic windows and decorative brackets
in the cornice line
give the store detail accentuating the first-floor stone pilasters and second-story window hoods.
The architects combined Romanesque Revival
details with Queen Anne architecture to create a unique style for the Ruskaup-Ratcliffe House. As Romanesque Revival drew inspiration from traditional German architecture, it was popular among German immigrants such as Frederick Ruskaup. Vonnegut & Bohn, ethnic German Americans, drew from German influences, as evidenced by their later masterpiece, the Athenæum (Das Deutsche Haus)
. In contrast to the neighboring store, and reflective of the houses being constructed on Dorman Street, the architects drew on the mainstream Queen Anne style for the basic massing of the house. This is shown in the asymmetrical facade
, with a wrap-around porch and tower. The Romanesque Revival is expressed in the varied window sizes, stone detailing in the cornice and window hoods, and a stepped front gable
. The interior is equally impressive, featuring inlaid floors
and a cartouche
above the entryways to the stairwell and dining room, all trademarks of Vonnegut & Bohn designs. The original imported stained glass
windows were removed from the house in the early 1980s.
known as the Vonnegut & Bohn Doubles provide great historic and architectural significance to the National Register district and neighborhood as a whole. In 1888, Ruskaup's business success prompted him to build a series of several duplexes as rental properties. Most of the doubles, as well as two cottages in the 700 block of Dorman Street burned to the ground in October 1890. Ruskaup quickly rebuilt, including brick fire walls in the three southern-most doubles across from his grocery store and future house.
The architecture firm of Vonnegut & Bohn was hired to design the houses, who Ruskaup later hired to build his own house. However, in contrast to the Ruskaup-Ratcliffe House and other Vonnegut & Bohn buildings, these duplexes possess a more mainstream Italianate appearance. Symmetrical facades, hipped roofs
, and full-length, gabled spindlework porches are common to the Queen Anne style and all five duplexes.
The Vonnegut & Bohn Doubles are also notable, along with the Ruskaup-Ratcliffe House, as the oldest extant Vonnegut & Bohn-designed residences in Indianapolis.
, it was known as Anacker's 9th Street Tavern, The Mahogany Bar (still knicknamed "The Hog"), and May's Lounge, the Dorman Street Saloon has served for years as a popular neighborhood meeting place. A popular rumor claims that infamous criminal John Dillinger
frequented the Dorman Street Saloon while preparing for his heist of the Massachusetts Avenue State Bank, only a couple blocks away.
constructed this warehouse to meet the growing demands of its Indianapolis stores. Large casement windows and pilasters are among the features of this Art Deco
industrial building. Today, the building houses the corporate headquarters of Marian, Inc. and is often used as a meeting place for the Cottage Home Neighborhood Association.
curbs lined the streets. Today, some of these sidewalks and curbs remain and are cherished by the neighborhood as important features of the historic district. Brick sidewalks remain on portions of Highland Avenue and Dorman Street, including in front of the Ruskaup-Ratcliffe house and store. Stone curbs can still be found on portions of Highland Avenue, Dorman Street, Stillwell Street, and Oriental Street.
since 1984, which has several times been named the best block party of Indianapolis by local alt weekly NUVO
. Cottage Home also participates in Near East Side Community Organization (NESCO), a coalition of near east side Indianapolis neighborhoods and not-for-profits
promoting community development. Residents of Cottage Home are within the bounds of Indianapolis Public Schools
, attending Washington Irving Elementary School, Emma Donnan Middle School, and Arsenal Technical High School
.
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
and neighborhood located on the near east side of Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
. A small portion of Cottage Home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
while a larger area is listed on the state and local levels. Known for its preponderance of "cottage-style" homes built with strong Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
influences, Cottage Home has historically been a working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
neighborhood. Numerous industrial buildings are also scattered throughout the district, providing a base of economic activity. Today, however, many of these buildings are vacant, providing a special challenge to preservation and urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
efforts.
After a period of urban decay in the 1960s and '70s, common to inner-city neighborhoods in Indianapolis, Cottage Home has since stemmed the loss of historic buildings and is now home to a flourishing and diverse community. Key to the area's improvement was the establishment of the Cottage Home Neighborhood Association (CHNA) in 1984, whose efforts halted the razing of residential properties by local businesses, and a renewed interest in restoring the area's homes. The Ruskaup-Ratcliffe house and store are the most architecturally significant buildings in the district, anchoring the district's addition to the National Register in 1990. Cottage Home was further expanded to its largest bounds at the state level in 1995 and local designation of the Ruskaup-Ratcliffe house and store followed. In 2008, the state bounds, encompassing 320 parcels and 292 properties, were designated as a Conservation District by the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission.
Geography
Cottage Home is located on the near east side of Indianapolis. The neighborhood is bordered to the west by the Chatham Arch & Massachusetts Avenue Historic DistrictChatham Arch, Indianapolis
Chatham Arch is a neighborhood located immediately east of Downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. This neighborhood is one of the oldest in Indianapolis, dating back to the mid 19th century...
, to the north by the Windsor Park neighborhood, to the east by Arsenal Technical High School
Arsenal Technical High School
Arsenal Technical High School is a public high school in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States which is run by the Indianapolis Public Schools school system. Established in 1912, the school consists of a , multiple building campus east of downtown Indianapolis and is the only such type school in...
and the Woodruff Place Historic District
Woodruff Place, Indianapolis
Woodruff Place is a neighborhood in Indianapolis located about a mile east of Downtown Indianapolis. It was established in the 1870s as an early suburb of Indianapolis. Woodruff Place's boundaries are: 10th Street on the north, West Drive on the west, Michigan Street on the south, and East Drive on...
and to the south by the Holy Cross neighborhood. Most of the district is built on a traditional grid plan
Grid plan
The grid plan, grid street plan or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid...
, broken up by Pogue's Run
Pogue's Run
Pogue's Run is a creek starting on the eastside of Indianapolis, which eventually ends up running through aqueducts beneath the downtown area. It is named for George Pogue, who along with John Wesley McCormick founded what would become the city of Indianapolis.-History:Prior to Pogue and...
cutting across the southeast portion.
National Register boundaries
The originally drawn boundaries of the Cottage Home Historic District, still the current boundaries of the National Register district, are much smaller than the state and locally designated boundaries. Comprising the 700 block of Dorman Street, 1102 to 1130 East St. Clair Street and 802 and 806 North Highland Avenue, 23 properties are included in the National Register district. Anchored by the Ruskaup-Ratcliffe house and store, these boundaries also include the Vonnegut & Bohn doubles and sixteen other houses. This area was listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on February 23, 1990.
State and local boundaries
Cottage Home received designation as a historic district at the state level on the Indiana Register of Historic Sites and Structures in 1995 with expanded boundaries. In 2008, the neighborhood worked with the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission to develop a conservation plan and became a locally designated Conservation District, following the boundaries of the state listing. The Cottage Home Conservation District is bounded by a CSXCSX Transportation
CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...
right-of-way between I-70
Interstate 70 in Indiana
In the U.S. state of Indiana, Interstate 70 travels east–west across the state passing through Indianapolis. Interstate 70 crosses into Indiana near Terre Haute and crosses into Ohio in Richmond. It covers 156.60 miles in Indiana. It parallels U.S...
/I-65
Interstate 65 in Indiana
In the U.S. state of Indiana, Interstate 65 traverses the state from south to north. The Indiana portion begins near Louisville, Kentucky and travels north, passing through Columbus, Indianapolis, Lafayette. Interstate 65 terminates near Gary on the Indiana Toll Road. Interstate 65 covers 261.27...
and Dorman Street to the west, 10th Street to the north, Oriental Street to the east, and Michigan Street to the south. As the Ruskaup-Ratcliffe house and store had already been designated locally by the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission, the local boundaries do not include those two properties, while the state boundaries do. Including the Ruskaup-Ratcliffe house and store, Cottage Home contains 320 parcels and 292 buildings, over half of which are residential.
History
Prior to development as an Indianapolis neighborhood, the area now known as Cottage Home was part of two farms owned by prominent IndianaIndiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
citizens. The land south of St. Clair Street belonged to Noah Noble
Noah Noble
Noah Noble was the fifth Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana from 1831 to 1837. His two terms focused largely on internal improvements, culminating in the passage of the Mammoth Internal Improvement Act, which was viewed at the time as his crowning achievement...
, fifth Governor of Indiana
Governor of Indiana
The Governor of Indiana is the chief executive of the state of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term, and responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state government. The governor also shares power with other statewide...
who bankrupted the State with the passage of the Indiana Mammoth Internal Improvement Act
Indiana Mammoth Internal Improvement Act
The Indiana Mammoth Internal Improvement Act was a bipartisan law passed by the Indiana General Assembly and signed by Whig Governor Noah Noble in 1836 that greatly expanded the state's program of internal improvements. It added an additional $10 million to spending and funded several projects,...
. The land north of St. Clair Street belonged to Robert Hanna
Robert Hanna
Robert Hanna was the third Senator for Indiana, succeeding James Noble on the latter's death. Hanna was born near Fountainius in Laurens District, South Carolina, before moving to Brookville, Indiana, in 1802...
, who was a member of the Indiana constitutional convention and succeeded Noble's brother James
James Noble
James Noble was the first U.S. Senator from the U.S. state of Indiana.Noble was born near Berryville, Virginia and moved with his parents to Campbell County, Kentucky when he was 10...
as U.S. Senator upon James's death in 1831. After the railroad reached Indianapolis in 1847, the resulting economic boom pushed the city's boundaries out beyond the Mile Square
Downtown Indianapolis
The term Downtown Indianapolis refers to the central business district of Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. The boundaries of downtown Indianapolis have varied over time as the city has grown. The city's original platted area, the Mile Square, is sometimes used to denote the downtown area...
. By the end of the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the arsenal
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, issued to authorized users, or any combination of those...
, which would later be adapted for use as Arsenal Technical High School
Arsenal Technical High School
Arsenal Technical High School is a public high school in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States which is run by the Indianapolis Public Schools school system. Established in 1912, the school consists of a , multiple building campus east of downtown Indianapolis and is the only such type school in...
, was built on the eastern border of Cottage Home and the streetcar reached St. Clair Street just a few blocks to the west, providing access to jobs for the area's residents. The Noble farm was platted in 1865 and the Hanna farm in 1868, and both additions were annexed to the City of Indianapolis in 1870.
After annexation, Cottage Home experienced strong growth in housing. Almost 400 households were located in the area by 1900, nearly three-quarters of which were being rented. Initially, most of the residents of Cottage Home were immigrant families or African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
, though that percentage steadily declined into the twentieth century. Among these early residents was Louisa Magruder, daughter of Tom Magruder, the slave of Gov. Noble who is said to be the titular inspiration for Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War", according to Will Kaufman....
. This strong growth in housing and population was accompanied by an expansion in the commercial and industrial sectors, due to the neighborhood's proximity to the railroad and streetcar. By 1915, new construction largely ended, and the architectural character of the area was established.
Indianapolis continued to experience strong growth through the 1960s and 70s, but the population of Cottage Home and other inner-city neighborhoods was reduced by migration to the suburbs in the process of urban sprawl
Urban sprawl
Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a multifaceted concept, which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, high segregation of uses Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a...
. As Cottage Home was within the flood zone of Pogue's Run
Pogue's Run
Pogue's Run is a creek starting on the eastside of Indianapolis, which eventually ends up running through aqueducts beneath the downtown area. It is named for George Pogue, who along with John Wesley McCormick founded what would become the city of Indianapolis.-History:Prior to Pogue and...
, residents began to leave for other areas. In addition, I-70
Interstate 70 in Indiana
In the U.S. state of Indiana, Interstate 70 travels east–west across the state passing through Indianapolis. Interstate 70 crosses into Indiana near Terre Haute and crosses into Ohio in Richmond. It covers 156.60 miles in Indiana. It parallels U.S...
/I-65
Interstate 65 in Indiana
In the U.S. state of Indiana, Interstate 65 traverses the state from south to north. The Indiana portion begins near Louisville, Kentucky and travels north, passing through Columbus, Indianapolis, Lafayette. Interstate 65 terminates near Gary on the Indiana Toll Road. Interstate 65 covers 261.27...
's construction required demolishing homes on the west side of the neighborhood, leaving it bordered with a high-traffic roadway. By the 1980s, more than 100 houses had been demolished in Cottage Home. A renewed interest in historic restoration and the establishment of the Cottage Home Neighborhood Association (CHNA) in 1984 reversed the demolition trend; the area has since lost only six homes to fire or demolition. CHNA led the effort for the unique neighborhood to be designated as a historic district, achieving addition to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1990, the State Register in 1995, and city designation in 2008. Today, while infill has been slow, the neighborhood continues as a vibrant and active community.
Architecture
Cottage Home derives its name from a subdivision in the northern part of the neighborhood. It is also the predominant form of architecture in the district, Queen Anne and Folk VictorianVictorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
-style cottages. All historic residential properties fall under these styles, with the notable exception of the Ruskaup-Ratcliffe house, which combines Romanesque Revival
Romanesque Revival architecture
Romanesque Revival is a style of building employed beginning in the mid 19th century inspired by the 11th and 12th century Romanesque architecture...
features with Queen Anne architecture. Commercial and industrial buildings in the district were usually built either in the Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
tradition or the Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
style, depending on their age.
Residences in Cottage Home are typified by spindlework porches, turned posts, gable ornaments, variegated and fishscale shingling and gingerbread trim, features often found in Queen Anne and Folk Victorian homes. These types of detailing were placed on simple folk homes
Vernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it...
as an inexpensive way to provide varied design and personalization. This practice was common in Victorian-era working class neighborhoods such as Cottage Home.
Notable features
As a working class neighborhood, Cottage Home comprises primarily modest residential designs, with the notable exception of the Ruskaup-Ratcliffe house. A rich history as a thriving Indianapolis neighborhood, however, gives the district additional significance. Below are a few of the most notable properties and features of Cottage Home.Ruskaup-Ratcliffe House and Store
The architectural focal point of Cottage Home, the Ruskaup-Ratcliffe House and Store were both built by Frederick Ruskaup. Ruskaup was a GermanGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
immigrant who came to the United States in 1869 at the age of 25. By 1875, he purchased two lots on Dorman Street in present-day Cottage Home. At 713 Dorman Street, he opened a grocery store and the Ruskaup family lived upstairs. He added as L-shaped addition to the north and east of the store in 1885. The success of his grocery store and many rental properties allowed Ruskaup in 1892 to hire the prominent Indianapolis architecture firm Vonnegut & Bohn
Vonnegut & Bohn
Vonnegut & Bohn, was an architectural firm active in early- to mid-twentieth-century Indianapolis, Indiana.Founded in 1888 by Bernard Vonnegut Sr., FAIA and Arthur Bohn , all the partners were German Americans and were trained in both American and German architectural academies, which gave their...
to design a house for his family next door at 711 Dorman Street. Descendants of Frederick Ruskaup lived at the house and operated the store until 1957, when it was sold to the Ratcliffe sisters. The properties were sold again in the 1980s to their current owner. The house has been restored and the store has had extensive facade improvements.
The Ruskaup grocery store was built in the Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
style, common to Midwestern
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
buildings in the 1870s. Attic windows and decorative brackets
Bracket (architecture)
A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...
in the cornice line
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
give the store detail accentuating the first-floor stone pilasters and second-story window hoods.
The architects combined Romanesque Revival
Romanesque Revival architecture
Romanesque Revival is a style of building employed beginning in the mid 19th century inspired by the 11th and 12th century Romanesque architecture...
details with Queen Anne architecture to create a unique style for the Ruskaup-Ratcliffe House. As Romanesque Revival drew inspiration from traditional German architecture, it was popular among German immigrants such as Frederick Ruskaup. Vonnegut & Bohn, ethnic German Americans, drew from German influences, as evidenced by their later masterpiece, the Athenæum (Das Deutsche Haus)
Athenæum (Das Deutsche Haus)
The Athenæum, originally named Das Deutsche Haus , is the most ornate and best-preserved building affiliated with the German American community of Indianapolis. Once used as a German American turnverein and clubhouse, it currently houses many groups, organizations, and businesses...
. In contrast to the neighboring store, and reflective of the houses being constructed on Dorman Street, the architects drew on the mainstream Queen Anne style for the basic massing of the house. This is shown in the asymmetrical facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
, with a wrap-around porch and tower. The Romanesque Revival is expressed in the varied window sizes, stone detailing in the cornice and window hoods, and a stepped front gable
Crow-stepped gable
A Stepped gable, Crow-stepped gable, or Corbie step is a stair-step type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building...
. The interior is equally impressive, featuring inlaid floors
Marquetry
Marquetry is the art and craft of applying pieces of veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns, designs or pictures. The technique may be applied to case furniture or even seat furniture, to decorative small objects with smooth, veneerable surfaces or to freestanding pictorial panels...
and a cartouche
Cartouche (design)
A cartouche is an oval or oblong design with a slightly convex surface, typically edged with ornamental scrollwork. It is used to hold a painted or low relief design....
above the entryways to the stairwell and dining room, all trademarks of Vonnegut & Bohn designs. The original imported stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
windows were removed from the house in the early 1980s.
Vonnegut & Bohn Doubles, 702-720 Dorman Street
Another legacy of Frederick Ruskaup, the series of duplexesDuplex (building)
The term duplex can be used to describe several different dwelling unit configurations:A duplex house is defined as a dwelling having apartments with separate entrances for two families. This includes two-story houses having a complete apartment on each floor and also side-by-side apartments on a...
known as the Vonnegut & Bohn Doubles provide great historic and architectural significance to the National Register district and neighborhood as a whole. In 1888, Ruskaup's business success prompted him to build a series of several duplexes as rental properties. Most of the doubles, as well as two cottages in the 700 block of Dorman Street burned to the ground in October 1890. Ruskaup quickly rebuilt, including brick fire walls in the three southern-most doubles across from his grocery store and future house.
The architecture firm of Vonnegut & Bohn was hired to design the houses, who Ruskaup later hired to build his own house. However, in contrast to the Ruskaup-Ratcliffe House and other Vonnegut & Bohn buildings, these duplexes possess a more mainstream Italianate appearance. Symmetrical facades, hipped roofs
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
, and full-length, gabled spindlework porches are common to the Queen Anne style and all five duplexes.
The Vonnegut & Bohn Doubles are also notable, along with the Ruskaup-Ratcliffe House, as the oldest extant Vonnegut & Bohn-designed residences in Indianapolis.
Dorman Street Saloon, 901 Dorman Street
While architecturally plain, the Dorman Street Saloon has long played an important role in the lives of Cottage Home residents. The corner structure was originally built as a house in the early 1870s. Operating as a grocery in the 1910s, the business became a bar in the late 1910s. After the end of ProhibitionProhibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
, it was known as Anacker's 9th Street Tavern, The Mahogany Bar (still knicknamed "The Hog"), and May's Lounge, the Dorman Street Saloon has served for years as a popular neighborhood meeting place. A popular rumor claims that infamous criminal John Dillinger
John Dillinger
John Herbert Dillinger, Jr. was an American bank robber in Depression-era United States. He was charged with, but never convicted of, the murder of an East Chicago, Indiana police officer during a shoot-out. This was his only alleged homicide. His gang robbed two dozen banks and four police stations...
frequented the Dorman Street Saloon while preparing for his heist of the Massachusetts Avenue State Bank, only a couple blocks away.
Kroger Grocery & Bakery Company Building
At 200000 square feet (18,580.6 m²), the Kroger Grocery & Bakery Company Building is easily the largest building in Cottage Home. In 1929, the expanding Kroger Grocery & Bakery CompanyKroger
The Kroger Co. is an American supermarket chain founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It reported US$ 76.7 billion in sales during fiscal year 2009. It is the country's largest grocery store chain and its second-largest grocery retailer by volume and second-place general retailer...
constructed this warehouse to meet the growing demands of its Indianapolis stores. Large casement windows and pilasters are among the features of this Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
industrial building. Today, the building houses the corporate headquarters of Marian, Inc. and is often used as a meeting place for the Cottage Home Neighborhood Association.
Sidewalks and curbs
When Cottage Home was built, high-quality brick sidewalks and limestoneIndiana Limestone
Indiana Limestone, also known as Bedford Limestone is a common regional term for Salem limestone, a geological formation primarily quarried in south central Indiana between Bloomington and Bedford....
curbs lined the streets. Today, some of these sidewalks and curbs remain and are cherished by the neighborhood as important features of the historic district. Brick sidewalks remain on portions of Highland Avenue and Dorman Street, including in front of the Ruskaup-Ratcliffe house and store. Stone curbs can still be found on portions of Highland Avenue, Dorman Street, Stillwell Street, and Oriental Street.
Neighborhood
The Cottage Home Neighborhood Association has sponsored an annual block partyBlock party
A block party is a large public party in which many members of a single neighbourhood congregate, either to observe an event of some importance or simply for mutual enjoyment. The name comes from the form of the party, which often involves closing an entire city block to vehicle traffic...
since 1984, which has several times been named the best block party of Indianapolis by local alt weekly NUVO
NUVO (newspaper)
NUVO is an alternative weekly newspaper and news website serving the Indianapolis, Indiana metropolitan area. Locally owned and operated, it features news, music, film and theatre reviews, and also has sections for classifieds and other advertisements...
. Cottage Home also participates in Near East Side Community Organization (NESCO), a coalition of near east side Indianapolis neighborhoods and not-for-profits
Nonprofit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
promoting community development. Residents of Cottage Home are within the bounds of Indianapolis Public Schools
Indianapolis Public Schools
Indianapolis Public Schools, abbreviated locally as IPS, is the largest school district in Indianapolis as well as in the state of Indiana with 33,372 students enrolled in 2009-2010...
, attending Washington Irving Elementary School, Emma Donnan Middle School, and Arsenal Technical High School
Arsenal Technical High School
Arsenal Technical High School is a public high school in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States which is run by the Indianapolis Public Schools school system. Established in 1912, the school consists of a , multiple building campus east of downtown Indianapolis and is the only such type school in...
.