The House of Blue Lights
Encyclopedia
The House Of Blue Lights was the name given to a house on the far northeast side of Indianapolis
. Decorated year round with blue Christmas lights, it was actually the home of eccentric Indianapolis millionaire Skiles Edward Test. It gained a reputation for being haunted.
According to local folklore, Skiles' deceased wife was embalmed in a glass coffin inside the house, surrounded by the eerie blue lights. Test himself encouraged the rumors when he began burying the remains of some of his 150 pet cats in carpeted caskets under brass nameplates. After Test's death, no evidence was discovered that indicated his wife was buried on the property, for, in fact, he had been married three times and all three women survived him. The public sale at auction of the possessions from the property did enhance the rumors of his eccentric later life. Nevertheless, the house was widely regarded as a "haunted" site well past Skiles' death in 1964, and is still recognized in the folklore and culture of Indianapolis.
The house itself was originally of wood-frame construction, with a full exterior facade of white opaque glass brick. Many additions to the original farm house included glass solarium/greenhouses, and numerous lightning rods on the roof. A unique feature of the Test estate was an Olympic-sized swimming pool with a three-story diving tower and motorized surfboard pulley system, and alongside of the pool, an ornate brick "pool house" with guest quarters. The pool circulated its water through above ground pipes that were heated in the sun and recirculated in the pool to keep the water warm. This was the first solar-heated pool.
Following the death of Skiles and the destruction of the house, his heirs bequeathed the property to Indy Parks and it was developed into a natural resource area called the Skiles Test Nature Park
. A view of the property from the air in 1937 can be found at the IUPUI Skiles Test Nature Park page.
The legend of the house was the subject of a gothic comedy play, The Creeper of the House of Blue Lights, which was performed by the Stage Actors Workshop in Indianapolis in October 2007.
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
. Decorated year round with blue Christmas lights, it was actually the home of eccentric Indianapolis millionaire Skiles Edward Test. It gained a reputation for being haunted.
According to local folklore, Skiles' deceased wife was embalmed in a glass coffin inside the house, surrounded by the eerie blue lights. Test himself encouraged the rumors when he began burying the remains of some of his 150 pet cats in carpeted caskets under brass nameplates. After Test's death, no evidence was discovered that indicated his wife was buried on the property, for, in fact, he had been married three times and all three women survived him. The public sale at auction of the possessions from the property did enhance the rumors of his eccentric later life. Nevertheless, the house was widely regarded as a "haunted" site well past Skiles' death in 1964, and is still recognized in the folklore and culture of Indianapolis.
The house itself was originally of wood-frame construction, with a full exterior facade of white opaque glass brick. Many additions to the original farm house included glass solarium/greenhouses, and numerous lightning rods on the roof. A unique feature of the Test estate was an Olympic-sized swimming pool with a three-story diving tower and motorized surfboard pulley system, and alongside of the pool, an ornate brick "pool house" with guest quarters. The pool circulated its water through above ground pipes that were heated in the sun and recirculated in the pool to keep the water warm. This was the first solar-heated pool.
Following the death of Skiles and the destruction of the house, his heirs bequeathed the property to Indy Parks and it was developed into a natural resource area called the Skiles Test Nature Park
Skiles Test Nature Park
Skiles Test Nature Park, sometimes called Skiles Test Nature Area is an east side Indianapolis park on land bequeathed by Skiles Test, on which once sat the supposed haunted house, The House of Blue Lights....
. A view of the property from the air in 1937 can be found at the IUPUI Skiles Test Nature Park page.
The legend of the house was the subject of a gothic comedy play, The Creeper of the House of Blue Lights, which was performed by the Stage Actors Workshop in Indianapolis in October 2007.
Further reading
- Baker, Ronald L. Hoosier Folk Legends. Indiana University Press. 1982. ISBN 0-253-20334-1.
- Bodenhamen, David J., Robert Graham Barrows and David Gordon Vanderstel. The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Indiana University Press. 1994. ISBN 0253312221.
- Degh, Linda. Legend and Belief: Dialectics of a Folklore Genre. Indiana University Press: 15 November 2001. ISBN 0253339294.
- Geib, George W. Indianapolis: Hoosiers' Circle City copyright 1981, ISBN 0932986196.
- Kobrowski, Nicole Encyclopedia of Haunted Indiana copyright 2008, ISBN 978-0977413027.
- Miclot, Kay Joy. Skiles Test and the House of Blue Lights. Publisher: Miclot, 1975. ASIN: B0006X4IZ4.
- Neville, Susan. In the House of Blue Lights. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1998.
External links
- HouseofBlueLights.com by Skiles Test's daughter
- skilestesthouseofbluelights.com by Patricia Hicks