The Hillforest Mansion, also known as Thomas Gaff House, is located at 213 Fifth Street, in Aurora

Aurora, Indiana

Aurora is a city in Lawrenceburg and Center townships of Dearborn County, Indiana, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 3,965 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Aurora is located at ....

, Indiana

Indiana

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...

. It is built on a bluff above the Ohio River

Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

.

Built in 1855 in the Italian Renaissance

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...

 architectural style, the two-story home's design by Isaiah Rogers

Isaiah Rogers

Isaiah Rogers was a US architect who practiced in Mobile, Alabama, Boston, Massachusetts, New York City, and Cincinnati, Ohio.-Background:...

 reflected Gaff's involvement in the shipping industry; its full-width frontal porch is reminiscent of a steamboat's deck. The mansion, which was designated a National Historic Landmark

National Historic Landmark

A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

 in 1992, is owned and operated by Hillforest Historical Foundation.

External links

• Official site
• Cincinnati tourism site's page
• Thomas Gaff House, 213 Fifth Street, Aurora, Dearborn County, IN: photos etc. but not yet digitized, at Historic American Building Survey