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House History

George Wolcott built this Greek Revival house in 1838.  The Wolcotts lived in the house until 1918, when it was bought by Herbert Kitchen.  Herbert and Luella Kitchen lived in the house for many years.  Luella survived Herbert, but when her declining health forced her to leave the house, it became abandoned for many years.  Unfortunately, her daughter was unable to keep up the property and it defaulted to a bank due to an unpaid mortgage.  

 

Tim Hudson, a descendent of George Wolcott (one of George’s daughters married a Hudson), along with Rex Fisher, a LaGrange County historian, were able to raise funds for the LaGrange County Community Foundation to pay off the bank mortgage.  LCCF then turned the property over to Indiana Landmarks.

 

Indiana Landmarks put on a new roof to help prevent further damage to the house and arranged for a boy scout troop to clear out some of the debris from the inside of the house.  They deposited most of it in the cinder block garage.

 

When we bought the property from Indiana Landmarks (after seeing it in the “Save This House” section in “This Old House” magazine) in 2017, overgrown trees and shrubs blocked the view of the house.  A cinder block garage on the east end didn’t match the historic features of the rest of the house and was full of junk.  The old “school room” in between the house and garage was too deteriorated to salvage.

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The back of the house was worse, with more weeds and shrubs hiding ground hog tunnels.  Part of the roof was leaking and inside some of the floor boards were rotten and it was dangerous to walk in certain areas.  

 

But the stone foundation was solid and the timber frame was still holding strong.  There were interior features that were not damaged, including built-in cabinets around the fireplace mantels on both sides of the chimney.  We could see potential.

 

We spent 4 years restoring the Wolcott house, completely gutting the original house the first year.  We moved the Noah Yale house from Meriden, Connecticut.  The two timber frame structures were connected the second year.  We had the services of many Amish craftsmen.  Various crews did the framing, repaired the entablatures, replicated the rotten columns, replaced the window jambs and replicated the old sashes, put up the original trim, laid flooring, and hung doors.

 

Because both houses were essentially “gutted”, we were able to put in modern electrical, plumbing, heating, air conditioning, central vacuum system.  So, while maintaining the historic features - showing off the timber frame posts and beams, old doors and latches, built-in cabinets and mantels - we don’t have some of the problems of typical older houses with knob and tube wiring, rusting plumbing, etc.

 

We finally were able to move in just before thanksgiving in 2020.  There was still a lot of landscaping and interior finish work to do, but the main work was done.  We have been enjoying our new old home and the neighborhood.

CONTACT US

Call or Text: 574-202-2113 (preferred)

105 E. Wolcott Street, Wolcottville, IN  46795

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