Tuckaway - 3128 North Pennsylvania Street

Year Built: 1906

Architectural Style: Arts and Crafts Bungalow

- Key Features:

• Exposed Roof Beams
• Wood Siding - Natural Material
• Square Porch Supports
• Heavy Leading on Multi-Pane Windows

We could spend the full tour talking about the history of this bungalow, rumored to have been built on an Indian burial ground from when the Delaware Indians populated this area. Built in 1906, Tuckaway is one of the few individual residences in Indy to be on the National Register of Historic Places, and is one of two privately owned properties in Meridian Park included on the Register. It is a true step back in time to the prominence and sophistication of HMPs early days. The second homeowners, George Meier, an internationally acclaimed dress designer affiliated with L.S. Ayres, and Nellie Simmons Meier, a palm reader to the “stars,” entertained Hollywood and Broadway celebrities as well as politicians in this bungalow home. To accommodate the couple’s social needs, the home was enlarged. Several rooms in the front were gutted to create a great drawing room and a second story addition was added to the rear. Correspondence, photographs, and newspaper articles of the time add to our understanding of the home and the ambience and historical significance it provided.

The former owner, Ken Keene, owned the property 43 years before passing away in the home in 2015. It was purchased by Joe Everhart, an Indianapolis realtor and the owner of Everhart Studio. Mr. Keene purchased the residence in 1972 from the Meiers’ niece, Ruth Austin, a well-known dancer and teacher of modern dance and ballet. Mr. Keene restored the home’s original décor and feel, calling it “a study piece of the early 20th century.” The home was once loaded with copies of signed celebrity photos indicative of the Meier’s circle of friends – including Walt Disney, Joan Crawford, Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, and George Gershwin. The originals autographed photos are in the Library of Congress. Rumor has it that in the 1920s a postcard addressed to “Tuckaway USA” could be mailed from any part of the world and find its way here.

• This is one of two Meridian Park homes featured in “99 Historic Homes of Indiana” published in 2002.
• A complete article about this home can be found at http://www.historicmeridianpark.org/about-the-neighborhood/tuckaway/