Traveling through time

There's a group in Vigo County called "The Time Travelers Club".  They meet once a month at a different place around Vigo County.  Usually a historical building with a past most would never know.

On the 14th of June, I traveled back in time with them to the Condit House.  Condit House sits on the campus of Indiana State University.  Over time, it was a private residence, an office, and now its place in history is that of the home of the President of Indiana State Dan Bradley and his wife Cheri.

Location of Condit House


The history of Condit House is a unique in that until it was donated to the University in 1962, it had remained in the same family for 100 years.  Reverend Blackford Condit purchased the home from Lucien Houriet, a local Terre Haute jeweler, who had the house built in 1860.  It was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1973.

 Reverend Blackford Condit and his wife, Sara Louise Mills Condit, purchaes the home from Houriet in 1863.  Their infant twins, Charles & Charlotte, died soon after moving into the house.  The Reverend and his wife had 6 more children: Sarah, Emma, Howe Allen, Blackford, Helen and Joseph Dayton.
Sara Louise Mills was the daughter of Caleb Mills, who is considered the "father of the Indiana Public School System".  Mills was a frequent visitor to Condit House during his tenure as the 2nd Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction and throughout his distinguished career as a professor at Wabash College. Indiana State's highest teaching award is named in his honor.

Over the years, possession of the home passed to daughter Helen, who lived her entire life in Condit House.  The house was also expanded on to make for a larger living space, yet blending it with the historical portion.  From the outside, it's hard to see where new and old meet.

Inside, you'll find as much historical aspects as could be kept and make the home up to current codes.  The newer 1st floor dedicates inself to an entry hall, dining room, modern kitchen, breakfast nook and staircases, both leading upstairs and to the history filled basement.  The newer upstairs houses a bedroom, closets hall and a bath.  

The older 1st level is home to a 'great room', library, a music room, a grand staircase and the fantastic old front doors.  The upstairs is has bedrooms, both guest and the private living quarters of  President & Mrs. Bradley, along with a small sitting room, and a lovely nook at the top of the stairs.  

The basement is a historical modge podge of old and new.  It's unlike any other basement I'd ever seen.  The nooks, the crannies, the old wooden doors.  It was like a historical seek & find.

The house itself... is one you have to see to believe.  Blending the old and the new in a way that had me in aw.  




The Chandelier in the Dining Room.  

a painting in the Entry hall

Original ceiling in the Great Room

Original Curtain Rods In the Great Room

A Steinway in the Music Room

Book case in the Music Room

Fireplace shield in the Music Room

Chandelier in the Library

Fireplace Shield in the Library

The Old Front Doors

The Great Room

Guest Bedroom Bed (see photo below about it)

The Bedroom suit won First Prize at the Chicago World's Fair 1893

An old Brownie Camera in the upstairs window nook


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