The Abram Gaar House and Farm is a Second Empire-style farm home located in Richmond, Indiana

Richmond, Indiana

Richmond is a city largely within Wayne Township, Wayne County, in east central Indiana, United States, which borders Ohio. The city also includes the Richmond Municipal Airport, which is in Boston Township and separated from the rest of the city...

, built in 1876 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

.

The home was built by industrialist Abram Gaar, president of Gaar-Scott

Gaar-Scott

Gaar-Scott & Co., was an American threshing machine and steam traction engine builder based in Richmond, Indiana. The company built simple and compound engines in sizes from 10 to 40 horsepower. Farm machinery produced by the firm were advertised as part of "the Tiger Line" and used a tiger upon...

 and Company, manufacturers of steam engines and threshing machines from 1842-1911. Total construction cost of the home was $20,000 it took eight months to build. The house is situated on a rise overlooking the city of Richmond from the north. Gaar hired John A. Hasecoster

John A. Hasecoster

John Adam Hasecoster was a prominent American architect in Indiana during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His practice was located in Richmond, Indiana. He designed numerous important public buildings as well as residences in the area...

, the area's leading architect of the day to design the house and his original plans drawn on linen sheets are on display at the house today.

Restoration

In the 1970s, Joanna Hill Mikesell, granddaughter of the builder and his wife Agnes restored the home which had remained in her family since it was built. Most of the original fabric of the house remains intact and historic windows, front porch fittings, and interior elements were found in storage on the property and returned to the house during restoration. She established the non-profit Agnes and Abram Gaar Foundation to assume ownership of the house, its contents and a few outbuildings. The Foundation operates the house as a historic house museum.

Collection

The home holds a significant collection of Victorian decorative arts including nearly all the original Eastlake style furnishings, some of which were purchased from the 1876 Centennial Exposition

Centennial Exposition

The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. It was officially...

 in Philadelphia. Original bills of sale for furniture from Mitchell and Rammelsberg Furniture Company in Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati, Ohio

Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...

, are also part of the collection. in addition to the house and furnishings, the Foundation's collection holds a number of archival items relating to the history of the Garr-Scott company and the Gaar family.

External links

• http://www.thegaarhouse.com
• Gaar House photos
• Reviving the Stenciller's Art in Indiana, Old House Journal, 1978