Julian Home - 115 South Audubon

Year Built: 1873

Architecture Style: Italianate

Key Features:

• Decorative Brackets
• Tall Narrow Windows with Full Arches
• Attic Level Windows

This graceful Italianate dwelling was built in 1873, and is one of the most important landmarks in Irvington. It was the home of George Washington Julian, brother of one of Irvington’s co-founders. George Julian was a 19th century lawyer, writer, and anti-slavery advocate who served 5 terms in the US Congress. He hosted both Frederick Douglas and Sojourner Truth in his home. Indianapolis Public School #57 is named for him.

Julian’s daughter, Grace Juilian Clarke, and her husband lived here until the 1930s, after which the home served as private residence, a boarding house for railroad workers, and as the Huff Sanitarium.

By the mid-1980s the vacant home had become an eyesore and some wanted the structure demolished. Thankfully, Indiana Landmarks purchased the building, placed the home on the National Register of Historic Places, and put protective covenants on the exterior of the house. They then sold it to a family who has been restoring it. This is an example of how Indiana Landmarks seeks to fulfill its mission of saving meaningful places and revitalizing communities.

Serial killer H.H. Holmes rented a house behind the Julian house when he was in Indianapolis after fleeing Chicago. The house that stands on the lot today is not the one Holmes rented; that house was demolished.