Oldfields
Encyclopedia
Oldfields also known as Lilly House and Gardens, is a 26 acre historic estate and house museum on the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art
in Indianapolis
, Indiana
, United States. The estate, an example of the American country house movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark
in 2003.
Oldfields was built between 1909 and 1913 by architect Lewis Ketcham Davis for the family of Hugh McKennan Landon, who occupied the home from 1913 until 1932 when it was sold to J.K. Lilly, Jr.
Lilly, the late Indianapolis businessman, collector, and philanthropist, renovated and expanded the estate throughout the 1930s and 1940s, updating interiors as well as adding a number of new buildings to the grounds.
Now known as Lilly House, the 22-room mansion has undergone historic restoration
and is now open to the public on the campus of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The historic house is currently interpreted to reflect the 1930s era when the Lilly family occupied the residence. The rest of the Oldfields estate, which was given to the Art Association of Indianapolis by Lilly's children in 1967, now makes up a major portion of the Indianapolis Museum of Art campus. In addition to the home's significance as a representation of the American country house movement, Oldfields' gardens and grounds are a rare example of a preserved estate landscape designed by Percival Gallagher of the Olmsted Brothers
firm.
and the White River
, and included residential lots, a reservoir, and a country club. Landon reserved 26 acres, or about half of the land, for the construction of Oldfields, which was completed around 1913.
In 1932, in the midst of the Great Depression
, Josiah Kirby Lilly, Jr. purchased the estate. In spite of the economic times, Lilly undertook a number of renovation and expansion projects on the property, including an extension to the south for a new library, renovation of the stair hall and front entrance, and the addition of a vestibule that aligned the entrance with the allée
at the front of the property.
In the 1950s Lilly redecorated several rooms in keeping with the tastes of the time. Bookshelves were removed and walls repainted in order to make room for an expanding portrait collection. Additionally, muralist Douglas Riseborough was employed to update the stair hall and the loggia with murals depicting the surrounding grounds and gardens. While most of these renovations were changed in subsequent decades, the mural illustrating views of the allée can still be seen in the loggia.
In 1967, following the deaths of Lilly and his wife, the Lilly children, Ruth Lilly
and J.K. Lilly III, gave the estate to the Art Association of Indianapolis to serve as the new art museum. Called the "Lilly Pavilion of Decorative Arts," the house served as exhibit space at the time that the association changed its name to the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 1969. In the years that followed the exhibits focused more on decorative arts and less on the historic aspects of the home and garden. Beginning in the 1980s and 1990s, planning began to restore Oldfields to its former condition. In 2002 the historic home reopened to the public, and in 2003 it was designated as a national historic landmark. The property is considered a historic district and includes 10 buildings and 28 other contributing resources.
of America following the Civil War
. As industrialists and businessmen became more wealthy at the turn of the twentieth century, it became increasingly popular to invest in large, country estates located outside of cities. It was a way to return to a simpler life, far from the increasingly crowded, dirty, industrialized city. As more families began to own automobiles it became even more feasible to live in the country while remaining involved in city life.
Country houses during this era were often palatial, with expansive estates and architecturally designed gardens. Many estates were self sufficient farms as well. While the Biltmore Estate
in Asheville, North Carolina is considered to be the first and most grand example of the Country Place Era, estates as small as twenty acres could also be reflective of the movement. Oldfields is one such example.
, taking advantage of expansive views to the west.
The house includes a service wing, pavilions on the east and west with access to balconies
from the second floor, and a large terrace atop a garage
and service area. While occupied by the Landon family, the main floor originally included a music room, library
, sunroom, living room, dining room, kitchen, and porch. The second floor was made up of private suites, bedrooms, bathrooms, the servants suite, and a study. A third floor ballroom was also present in the Landon home and was used for storage during the Lilly's occupancy. At that time the estate also included a formal garden, greenhouse
, tennis court
, and several out buildings.
Following the renovations of J.K. Lilly, Jr., components of the main level included a great hall, game room, library, drawing room, loggia
, dining room, kitchen, and servants quarters as well as an altered stair hall and entrance.
sculptures, and a shaded bench. The garden has been restored and remains true to its former design.
The landscape remained largely unchanged until Percival Gallagher of the Olmsted Brothers Firm was hired in 1920 by Landon's second wife, Jessie. Gallagher's plans for the property balanced formal components, such as the extravagant allée, and more informal components such as the ravine garden. The ravine garden consists of a watercourse lined with an extensive pattern of rocks, flowers, shrubs, and trees, as well as a meandering path and bridge.
The Grand Allée, or vista, at the front of the property added an increased sense of formality to the estate, while also serving the more practical function of blocking unwanted sounds and views of Michigan Road. A circular fountain and sculpture of the Three Graces were installed at the end of the allée, positioned in front of a line of evergreens which block the road. Double rows of Dutch elms
were planted along each side of the allée, framing the view of the house and drive. Behind the elm trees on both sides of the allée Gallagher designed border gardens with meandering paths, a multitude of flower beds, and additional sculptures. The border gardens were meant to entice visitors to explore the paths before emerging at the far end of the allée.
When the Lillys purchased the property in 1933 the gardens and grounds were just beginning to mature. The family left the gardens largely unaltered other than the addition of several sculptures throughout. Lilly also constructed a number of new buildings on the grounds, expanding the greenhouse significantly. In 1939 Newfield was constructed as a residence for Joe Lilly and his family. In 1940 a recreation building was built in the south pasture that housed an indoor pool, game room, and exercise room. Outside of the recreation building was an outdoor pool, tennis court, and Four Seasons garden.
Indianapolis Museum of Art
The Indianapolis Museum of Art is an encyclopedic art museum located in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The museum, which underwent a $74 million expansion in 2005, is located on a campus on the near northwest area outside downtown Indianapolis, northwest of Crown Hill Cemetery.The...
in Indianapolis
Indianapolis
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...
, 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...
, United States. The estate, an example of the American country house movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was designated a U.S. 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 2003.
Oldfields was built between 1909 and 1913 by architect Lewis Ketcham Davis for the family of Hugh McKennan Landon, who occupied the home from 1913 until 1932 when it was sold to J.K. Lilly, Jr.
Josiah K. Lilly Jr.
Josiah Kirby Lilly, Jr. was a pharmaceutical industrialist and President of Eli Lilly and Company from 1948 to 1953. Lilly, a 1914 graduate of the school of pharmacy at the University of Michigan, was the last family member to run the company. He was named for his father, Josiah K. Lilly, Sr.,...
Lilly, the late Indianapolis businessman, collector, and philanthropist, renovated and expanded the estate throughout the 1930s and 1940s, updating interiors as well as adding a number of new buildings to the grounds.
Now known as Lilly House, the 22-room mansion has undergone historic restoration
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
and is now open to the public on the campus of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The historic house is currently interpreted to reflect the 1930s era when the Lilly family occupied the residence. The rest of the Oldfields estate, which was given to the Art Association of Indianapolis by Lilly's children in 1967, now makes up a major portion of the Indianapolis Museum of Art campus. In addition to the home's significance as a representation of the American country house movement, Oldfields' gardens and grounds are a rare example of a preserved estate landscape designed by Percival Gallagher of the Olmsted Brothers
Olmsted Brothers
The Olmsted Brothers company was an influential landscape design firm in the United States, formed in 1898 by stepbrothers John Charles Olmsted and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. .-History:...
firm.
History
Oldfields was established as part of the Town of Woodstock, a tract of land purchased and developed by Hugh McKennan Landon and Linnaes C. Boyd around 1910 as a suburban neighborhood north of Indianapolis. The area was adjacent to the 555 acre Crown Hill CemeteryCrown Hill Cemetery
Crown Hill Cemetery, located at 700 West 38th Street in Indianapolis, is the third largest non-governmental cemetery in the United States at . It contains of paved road, over 150 species of trees and plants, over 185,000 graves, and services roughly 1,500 burials per year. It sits on the highest...
and the White River
White River (Indiana)
The White River is a two-forked river that flows through central and southern Indiana and is the main tributary to the Wabash River. Via the west fork, considered to be the main stem of the river by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, the White River is long.-West Fork:The West Fork, long, is...
, and included residential lots, a reservoir, and a country club. Landon reserved 26 acres, or about half of the land, for the construction of Oldfields, which was completed around 1913.
In 1932, in the midst of the Great Depression
Great Depression in the United States
The Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement...
, Josiah Kirby Lilly, Jr. purchased the estate. In spite of the economic times, Lilly undertook a number of renovation and expansion projects on the property, including an extension to the south for a new library, renovation of the stair hall and front entrance, and the addition of a vestibule that aligned the entrance with the allée
Allee
Allee may refer to:* Alfred Allee , U.S. sheriff.* J. Frank Allee , U.S. merchant and politician.* Warder Clyde Allee , U.S. ecologist, discoverer of the Allee effect.* Verna Allee , U.S. business consultant....
at the front of the property.
In the 1950s Lilly redecorated several rooms in keeping with the tastes of the time. Bookshelves were removed and walls repainted in order to make room for an expanding portrait collection. Additionally, muralist Douglas Riseborough was employed to update the stair hall and the loggia with murals depicting the surrounding grounds and gardens. While most of these renovations were changed in subsequent decades, the mural illustrating views of the allée can still be seen in the loggia.
In 1967, following the deaths of Lilly and his wife, the Lilly children, Ruth Lilly
Ruth Lilly
Ruth Lilly was an American philanthropist. She was the daughter of Josiah K. Lilly, Jr., and Ruth Lilly, and the sole living heiress to the Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical fortune built by her great grandfather, Colonel Eli Lilly.Lilly made headlines in November 2002 when she pledged stock...
and J.K. Lilly III, gave the estate to the Art Association of Indianapolis to serve as the new art museum. Called the "Lilly Pavilion of Decorative Arts," the house served as exhibit space at the time that the association changed its name to the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 1969. In the years that followed the exhibits focused more on decorative arts and less on the historic aspects of the home and garden. Beginning in the 1980s and 1990s, planning began to restore Oldfields to its former condition. In 2002 the historic home reopened to the public, and in 2003 it was designated as a national historic landmark. The property is considered a historic district and includes 10 buildings and 28 other contributing resources.
Country house movement
Oldfields is an exemplary representation of an estate constructed during the Country Place Era, or the American country house movement, which took place from approximately 1885 to 1939. The country house movement was a reaction to the expanding industrialization and urbanizationUrbanization
Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008....
of America following the Civil War
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
. As industrialists and businessmen became more wealthy at the turn of the twentieth century, it became increasingly popular to invest in large, country estates located outside of cities. It was a way to return to a simpler life, far from the increasingly crowded, dirty, industrialized city. As more families began to own automobiles it became even more feasible to live in the country while remaining involved in city life.
Country houses during this era were often palatial, with expansive estates and architecturally designed gardens. Many estates were self sufficient farms as well. While the Biltmore Estate
Biltmore Estate
Biltmore House is a Châteauesque-styled mansion near Asheville, North Carolina, built by George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 and 1895. It is the largest privately-owned home in the United States, at and featuring 250 rooms...
in Asheville, North Carolina is considered to be the first and most grand example of the Country Place Era, estates as small as twenty acres could also be reflective of the movement. Oldfields is one such example.
Structure
Lilly House was designed by Landon's brother-in-law, Lewis Ketcham Davis, in the French Château style. The house is positioned on a bluff overlooking the White RiverWhite River (Indiana)
The White River is a two-forked river that flows through central and southern Indiana and is the main tributary to the Wabash River. Via the west fork, considered to be the main stem of the river by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, the White River is long.-West Fork:The West Fork, long, is...
, taking advantage of expansive views to the west.
The house includes a service wing, pavilions on the east and west with access to balconies
Balcony
Balcony , a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade.-Types:The traditional Maltese balcony is a wooden closed balcony projecting from a...
from the second floor, and a large terrace atop a garage
Garage (house)
A residential garage is part of a home, or an associated building, designed or used for storing a vehicle or vehicles. In some places the term is used synonymously with "carport", though that term normally describes a structure that is not completely enclosed.- British residential garages:Those...
and service area. While occupied by the Landon family, the main floor originally included a music room, library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
, sunroom, living room, dining room, kitchen, and porch. The second floor was made up of private suites, bedrooms, bathrooms, the servants suite, and a study. A third floor ballroom was also present in the Landon home and was used for storage during the Lilly's occupancy. At that time the estate also included a formal garden, greenhouse
Greenhouse
A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...
, tennis court
Tennis court
A tennis court is where the game of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles.-Dimensions:...
, and several out buildings.
Following the renovations of J.K. Lilly, Jr., components of the main level included a great hall, game room, library, drawing room, loggia
Loggia
Loggia is the name given to an architectural feature, originally of Minoan design. They are often a gallery or corridor at ground level, sometimes higher, on the facade of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or pierced openings in the wall...
, dining room, kitchen, and servants quarters as well as an altered stair hall and entrance.
Grounds and gardens
The first garden on the estate was included as part of the initial design by architect Lewis Ketcham Davis. This formal sunken garden was located to the south of the home and was connected by a series of pathways, flights of steps, and a limestone bridge. The focus of the garden was a circular fountain, surrounded by arbor trellises, two HermesHermes
Hermes is the great messenger of the gods in Greek mythology and a guide to the Underworld. Hermes was born on Mount Kyllini in Arcadia. An Olympian god, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of the cunning of thieves, of orators and...
sculptures, and a shaded bench. The garden has been restored and remains true to its former design.
The landscape remained largely unchanged until Percival Gallagher of the Olmsted Brothers Firm was hired in 1920 by Landon's second wife, Jessie. Gallagher's plans for the property balanced formal components, such as the extravagant allée, and more informal components such as the ravine garden. The ravine garden consists of a watercourse lined with an extensive pattern of rocks, flowers, shrubs, and trees, as well as a meandering path and bridge.
The Grand Allée, or vista, at the front of the property added an increased sense of formality to the estate, while also serving the more practical function of blocking unwanted sounds and views of Michigan Road. A circular fountain and sculpture of the Three Graces were installed at the end of the allée, positioned in front of a line of evergreens which block the road. Double rows of Dutch elms
Dutch Elm
Although all naturally occurring Field Elm × Wych Elm hybrids are loosely termed 'Dutch elm' , Ulmus × hollandica Major is a distinctive cultivar that in England came to be known specifically as the Dutch Elm...
were planted along each side of the allée, framing the view of the house and drive. Behind the elm trees on both sides of the allée Gallagher designed border gardens with meandering paths, a multitude of flower beds, and additional sculptures. The border gardens were meant to entice visitors to explore the paths before emerging at the far end of the allée.
When the Lillys purchased the property in 1933 the gardens and grounds were just beginning to mature. The family left the gardens largely unaltered other than the addition of several sculptures throughout. Lilly also constructed a number of new buildings on the grounds, expanding the greenhouse significantly. In 1939 Newfield was constructed as a residence for Joe Lilly and his family. In 1940 a recreation building was built in the south pasture that housed an indoor pool, game room, and exercise room. Outside of the recreation building was an outdoor pool, tennis court, and Four Seasons garden.
Today
Today Oldfields makes up a major portion of the main Indianapolis Museum of Art campus, with Lilly House located adjacent to the main museum building and 100 Acres, the Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park. The house features eight furnished historic rooms on the main level including the stair hall, great hall, game room, library, drawing room, loggia, dining room, and kitchen, the majority of which reflect the 1930s period of the Lilly family's occupancy. Nearly 90 percent of the furnishings and objects are original to the house and were used by the Lilly family. The upper level of Lilly House features historical and interactive exhibits detailing the American Country Place era, Oldfields' development as a country estate, and Indianapolis in the early 20th century. The second level also includes a sampling of Lilly's collections of books, gold coins, military miniatures and nautical items. Oldfields' gardens and grounds are preserved and maintained by the museum and are interpreted to reflect the intentions of Percival Gallagher's design.Further reading
- Hewitt, Mark Alan. (1990). The Architect and the American Country House. New Haven: Yale University Press.
- Giffin, Marjie Gates. (1981). Water Runs Downhill: A History of the Indianapolis Water Company and Other Centenarians. Indianapolis: privately printed.
- Griswold, Mac, and Eleanor Weller. (1991). The Golden Age of American Gardens: Proud Owners, Private Estates, 1890-1940. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
- Moss, Roger. (1990). The American Country House. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
- Silver, Joel. (1993). J.K.Lilly, Jr., Bibliophile. Bloomington: Indiana University.
- The Story of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Indianapolis: Indianapolis Museum of Art, 1998.