Moses Fowler House
Encyclopedia
The Moses Fowler House is located at the corner of 10th and South Streets in Lafayette, Indiana
. The Fowler house is considered the finest example of a large Gothic Revival residence still standing in Indiana. The house was built by Moses Fowler over the period of 1850-1852. Fowler came to Lafayette in 1839 and engaged in a number of business pursuits which made him very wealthy. At his death in 1889, Fowler had accumulated a fortune of several million dollars. Moses Fowler and his wife Eliza were donors to various community interests including Purdue University
. Eliza Fowler Hall (razed) at Purdue University was named in honor of Eliza Fowler.
Wilbur Peat describes the Fowler House as follows: "It has a large bay window
on the central projection and an oriel window
to the left of it. Dormers break the line of the eaves, and a chimney, designed after English medieval models, rises from the ridge of the roof. The woodwork both inside and out is skillfully carved in keeping with original Gothic inspirations."
The Moses Fowler House has been the home of the Tippecanoe County Historical Society since 1940. The house is open to the public.
Lafayette, Indiana
Lafayette is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 67,140. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on...
. The Fowler house is considered the finest example of a large Gothic Revival residence still standing in Indiana. The house was built by Moses Fowler over the period of 1850-1852. Fowler came to Lafayette in 1839 and engaged in a number of business pursuits which made him very wealthy. At his death in 1889, Fowler had accumulated a fortune of several million dollars. Moses Fowler and his wife Eliza were donors to various community interests including Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
. Eliza Fowler Hall (razed) at Purdue University was named in honor of Eliza Fowler.
Wilbur Peat describes the Fowler House as follows: "It has a large bay window
Bay window
A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room, either square or polygonal in plan. The angles most commonly used on the inside corners of the bay are 90, 135 and 150 degrees. Bay windows are often associated with Victorian architecture...
on the central projection and an oriel window
Oriel window
Oriel windows are a form of bay window commonly found in Gothic architecture, which project from the main wall of the building but do not reach to the ground. Corbels or brackets are often used to support this kind of window. They are seen in combination with the Tudor arch. This type of window was...
to the left of it. Dormers break the line of the eaves, and a chimney, designed after English medieval models, rises from the ridge of the roof. The woodwork both inside and out is skillfully carved in keeping with original Gothic inspirations."
The Moses Fowler House has been the home of the Tippecanoe County Historical Society since 1940. The house is open to the public.
Further reading
- Indiana Houses of the Nineteenth Century by Wilbur Peat, copyright 1962. pages 88.
- Historic American Buildings Survey in Indiana, edited by Thomas M. Slade, copyright 1983, page 122. ISBN 0-253-32741-5