"Prior to this book project I wrote for the Indianapolis Star. I traveled throughout Indiana writing about people and situations I found interesting. On my long drives through the state, I’d pass old homes along country roads or around courthouse squares and wonder who lived in them, and why?
Who hasn’t wondered that?" ―From the Preface by Bill Shaw
Indiana is blessed with a wealth of historic private homes. Ninety-nine of them are showcased in these pages, providing a rare opportunity for readers to enjoy a variety of house styles and types dating from the early 19th century through the late 1950s, and to see how they are preserved or restored, furnished, and lived in. Everyone who has lived in or admired an old home will find this book irresistible.
Bill Shaw’s essays help us get to know the owners, revealing how and why they came to choose these particular dwellings. Marsh Davis’s photographs depict not the glossy, overdecorated interiors of upscale shelter magazines, but rather homes as they are actually lived in. No props were used, no furniture was rearranged. The book encompasses every geographic region of Indiana and many styles of architecture, from early Federal and Greek Revival to Queen Anne to Arts and Crafts to Prairie and International.
As Historic Landmarks president Reid Williamson remarks in his foreword, "Home is the essence of this book. The people are of varied backgrounds and status in life and are from all geographic parts of the state, but they are bound by a common passion and dedication to their homes. They also share a profound respect and reverence for those who preceded them as occupants over the decades."
