About Us
We first became interested in old houses with the purchase of our first home in the Old West End in Toledo, OH. It was a 1914 American FourSquare with wonderful built-in quarter-sawn oak china cabinets in the dining room, leaded glass french doors, wooden floors, and the wide detailed trim and baseboards old houses are known for.
We then moved to Goshen, IN, to a 1889 Victorian, again with wide detailed trim. The fireplace had a carved wooden mantel. Again, it had the original wooden floors. In Goshen we converted an old TB porch and a sooty attic to living space and raised 4 children. There was plenty of space for our family plus guests.
Dan first found out about the George Wolcott House when reading a copy of “This Old House” magazine. It was featured as a “Save This House” inside the back cover. It was brought to the attention of “This Old House” by Indiana Landmarks. A descendant of George Wolcott had been interested in the house and when he found it was abandoned with a bank mortgage, he raised funds for LaGrange County Community Foundation to pay off the mortgage and they gave the house to Indiana Landmarks.
With Dan’s work as a physician for uninsured patients, largely Amish, he knew of many craftsmen with the skills needed to salvage the old house. So, we embarked on an adventure.
Not long after we purchased the property from Indiana Landmarks we found a sign that read:
Maybe it won’t work out,
but maybe seeing if it does
will be the best adventure ever.
That became our motto over the next 4 years as we worked to restore some of the former glory to this Greek Revival style home.
George Wolcott, who was born in Connecticut and lived as an older child and teen in Ohio, came to Indiana and built this Greek Revival timber frame house in 1838. He founded a saw mill and a grist mill, so the area became known as Wolcott’s Mills - later Wolcottville. He brought in a teacher for his children and other students joined, eventually starting a boarding house and seminary (the equivalent of high school).
The George and Margaret Wolcott house is now listed in the National Registry of Historic Places.