1026 W. Berry

Theodore & Bessie Theime House / Fort Wayne Art School

1898, Queen Anne

Architect: Marshall Mahurin

4000 sq ft

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Designed by architect Marshall Mahurin in 1898, this Queen Anne style house was built for Theodore Thieme. This house served as the Fort Wayne Art School until 1991. A theater, originally known as the Little Art Theater and now as the Arena Dinner Theater, was added to the rear of the house in 1922. Despite the loss of much original detail, the house exhibits many traditional Queen Anne features such as steep gables, asymmetrical massing, and a variety of window styles, including a spectacular stained-glass window on the west stair landing.

Theodore Thieme was born in Fort Wayne in 1857. He began his first career in the pharmaceutical business when he apprenticed in a drug store in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Back in Fort Wayne, he worked for the Meyers Brothers Company as a prescription clerk, then ventured into business on his own until 1889. In 1891, he opened the Wayne Knitting Mills on Main Street, behind where Paula's restaurant now stands. It was the first factory for the production of full-fashion hosiery in the United States. His business grew to be one of the largest and most successful hosiery factories in the country.

Thieme became interested in the beautification of the rivers in Fort Wayne and was instrumental in erecting a stone ornamental retaining wall near the approach to the bridge over the St. Mary’s River at West Main Street, known by residents as the Thieme Overlook. In 1922, Thieme donated his house to the Fort Wayne Art Association for the purpose of establishing the Fort Wayne Art School. Additionally, the Fort Wayne Museum of Art has in its possession a large collection of art once belonging to Mr. Thieme.

This house was recently put up for auction and purchased by a family who relocated here from just down the street. Original features inside the home include intricate parquet floors, stained glass windows, pocket doors, and period light fixtures.

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