At 1200 Sycamore St, Kokomo, IN, this impressive Romanesque QueenAnne mansion was built for entrepreneur & industrialist Monroe Seiberling. Monroe moved from Akron, OH to Kokomo in 1887, drawn by the natural gas boom. Monroe was the uncle to Frank Seiberling, co-founder Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co, and builder of Tudor style Stan Hywet Hall.
Monroe first started a shoebox company in Kokomo, but after 6mos sold his box company & switched to a more financially successful venture of glass manufacturing utilizing the cheap resources of natural gas.
By 1899, Monroe was ready to build an immense house costing $50,000, considerable amount in those days. When the gas boom began to wane, Monroe sold his manse in 1895, packing his bags to move onto greener pastures in Illinois where he started another successful company.
After Monroe, the house went thru a list of monied owners... a dry goods owner, an investor, a real estate developer & an inventor. In 1946 the mansion was sold to Indiana University who used the house as a branch of the university till 1964. Some fireplaces have been permanently removed & rooms modified to meet the schools needs.
The manse stood vacant till it was purchased for a center for the Howard County Historical Society in the early 1970’s, who have restored it with some rooms furnished, mainly the entrance hall, the parlor, & the dining room with period pieces. Via @godzilla1950 #queenannevictorian #queenannestyle #romanesque #victorian #victorianhouse #victorianarchitecture #victorianstyle #archi_ologie #archilovers #housestalker #houseaddict #oldhouselove #oldhouseenthusiast #iloveoldhouses #thisoldhouse #oldhousecharm #historichouse #houseportrait #ipulledoverforthis #loveofoldhouses #beautifulhouseoldandnew #houses_ofthe_world #casasecasarios #total_houses #houses_phototrip #chasing_facades #arch #architecture #architecturephotography #old
