This restored historic Meridian Park home is now on the market
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3159 N. Pennsylvania, in her restored glory. Photo: Courtesy of The Home Aesthetic
A piece of Indianapolis history could be yours.
The big picture: A turn-of-the-century showpiece at 3159 N. Pennsylvania is on the market after a meticulous yearlong restoration to bring the dilapidated historic home back to its former glory.
Flashback: Built in 1909 by well-known local architect Clarence Martindale, this 4,500-square-foot Mission Revival-style house was home to Louis Burckhardt, the first foreign-born doctor in Indiana, and his wife, Adele.
The latest: The ReDevelopment Group, a local design-build firm, spent the last 12 months restoring the white adobe house overlooking the Meridian Park neighborhood.
- Patrick Dubach, the company's CEO and founder, said the work started with shoring up the structural integrity.
- Next, they turned to bringing back the home's historic charm while modernizing the space.
"Nothing we saw in here scared us," he told Axios.
- "The thing we did differently here … I kept saying, 'We're going to swing for the fences. We're going to do it right.'"
Zoom in: He insists no detail was overlooked — from the showstopping custom-built range hood to the true-to-the-time arched openings and original lead glass windows in the stairway.
- Dubach said he did make one change, though, that wasn't in keeping with the home's original style — a street-facing front door.
- "The front door is not historic, but this is Indianapolis," he said. "We're porch people."
- It opens underneath a new pergola, built to match the original, which can be seen covered in a mass of wisteria in a photo of the home circa 1912.
Catch up quick: The Swiss-born Burckhardt served on the faculty of Indiana University School of Medicine, first as a clinical professor of medicine and later as professor of obstetrics.
- He lived at the home until his death at age 80 in 1945.
- Sometime in the early 1970s, the home was purchased by Isaiah and Nettie Lee Hill for $24,000.
- Their twin granddaughters, Juelina Haywood and Talina Shelton, told Axios they grew up there. They learned to roller skate in the large basement and even held their weddings at the house.
- Sometime after Nettie Lee died in 2005, the home was sold and eventually started to crumble.
What they're saying: "My first memories are of this house," Haywood said.
- She toured the house several years ago — before the restoration work had started — and was near tears when she saw its sad state, she said.
- At a recent open house to celebrate the restoration's completion, Haywood was near tears again — for a very different reason.
- "It's almost too good to be true," she said. "It's profound."
By the numbers: The four-bedroom, four-bathroom home is listed for $1.7 million.
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