Billy Sunday Home facts for kids
The building at its original location in 2016
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| Location | 1111 Sunday Lane, Winona Lake, Indiana |
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The Billy Sunday Home was where Billy Sunday, a famous American preacher, lived with his wife, Helen, their four children, and a housekeeper. This house is in Winona Lake, Indiana. It's a great example of a bungalow house built in the Arts and Crafts style.
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The Sunday Family's Home
The Sunday family loved spending their summers in Winona Lake. For several years before 1911, they stayed in a house called "The Illinois." This house was on a hill overlooking MacDonald Island and the lake.
In 1911, the family decided to move to Winona Lake permanently. They moved "The Illinois" house across the street. A new bungalow was built in its place. The Sundays named their new home Mount Hood. They owned land in Oregon near Mount Hood, which likely inspired the name.
Arts and Crafts Style
Many parts of the Billy Sunday Home show the Arts and Crafts style. This includes the beautiful wooden details inside. The walls had special shellacked burlap coverings. Even the light fixtures and sleeping porches (outdoor sleeping areas) fit this style.
The outside of the house also shows this style. You can see exposed rafter tails and beams. It is thought that Helen Sunday helped design the inside of the house. One of her favorite spots was the Inglenook. This was a cozy seating area around the fireplace.
The Home Becomes a Museum
Helen Sunday lived longer than her husband and all four of her children. By the 1950s, she lived in the house alone. People who admired Billy Sunday often came to see where he had lived. Helen started giving informal tours of her home.
In 1957, the year Helen died, a recording was made of her describing the house. This recording helped prove that the inside of the home is still much like it was when she lived there. Only a few things have been moved around.
Passing On the Home
Helen left the home and everything inside it to the Winona Christian Assembly. In 1968, Grace College and Theological Seminary bought the assembly grounds. This meant the Mount Hood home became part of Grace Schools.
Most of the old papers and writings from the home were collected by the Grace College and Seminary library. These became the Billy Sunday Papers. The original papers are kept in the Morgan Library Archives.
A New Visitor Center
Before 1998, the home had never been set up as a professional museum. But then the Village at Winona was created. The Winona Lake Historic District also started to become popular again.
A professional expert was hired to help restore the home. A new Billy Sunday museum and visitor center was built nearby. It opened in 2000. The visitor center taught people about Billy Sunday's history. Volunteers led tours through the home.
There were efforts to make it a state-run historical site, but this never happened. In 2010, the main person who gave money for the museum stopped funding it. So, the museum and visitor center closed.
Today, the Winona History Center at Grace College takes care of the home. They also offer tours for visitors.
