Lanier Mansion facts for kids
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Lanier Mansion
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U.S. National Historic Landmark District
Contributing Property |
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 Location in Indiana
Location in the United States
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| Location | 601 West First Street, Madison, Indiana |
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| Architect | Francis Costigan |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| Part of | Madison Historic District (ID73000020) |
| NRHP reference No. | 94001191 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | April 19, 1994 |
| Designated NHL | April 19, 1994 |
| Designated NHLDCP | May 25, 1973 |
The Lanier Mansion is a very old and important house in Madison, Indiana. It is located at 601 West First Street, inside the Madison Historic District. A rich banker named James F. D. Lanier had this grand house built in 1844. Today, it is a State Memorial and a National Historic Landmark. The mansion is famous for being one of the best examples of Greek Revival architecture in the United States.
Contents
A Look Back in Time
James Franklin Doughty Lanier was a key person in Madison's early days. He moved to the city in 1817 and later became a lawyer. In the 1830s, he started working in banking and finance. He became the president of the State Bank of Indiana's Madison branch. He also put a lot of money into Indiana's first railroad.
Building a Dream Home
Because of his success, Lanier decided to build a grand home. In 1840, he hired a well-known local architect named Francis Costigan. Costigan designed the mansion in the Greek Revival style. This style was very popular in the mid-19th century. He used ideas from design books by a New York architect named Minard Lafever.
The mansion was built using materials found nearby. This included bricks, limestone, and timber. Much of the wood was tulip poplar, which was common in the area. The house was finished and ready for the family in 1844.
New Owners and Modern Changes
James Lanier only lived in the mansion for seven years. He then moved to New York City. There, he helped start an investment company called Winslow, Lanier & Co.. In 1861, his son Alexander received the mansion and moved in.
Alexander Lanier made the house more modern. He added things like a coal furnace, gas lighting, and bathtubs. Alexander also created large, beautiful gardens. These gardens had two greenhouses and needed several professional gardeners.
The mansion stayed in the Lanier family until 1917. James' youngest son, Charles, gave the house to the Jefferson County Historical Society. In 1925, the society gave control to the state of Indiana. The state then opened it to the public as a historic house museum.
Discoveries and Restoration
Since the 1990s, experts like archaeologists and historians have worked at the mansion. Their research has helped bring the house back to how it looked in 1844. Much of this work has been supported by groups like The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America.
Archaeologists have found where old buildings used to be. They located dog kennels, a poultry house, and the original Lanier family home. They also found the carriage house. This building was rebuilt in 2003 on its original foundation.
The Mansion and Its Surroundings
Mansion Design
The Lanier Mansion sits on a hill overlooking the Ohio River. You can see the hills of Kentucky across the river. The main part of the house is almost a perfect square. It measures about 54 feet (16 meters) by 53 feet (16 meters). A service wing extends from the east side, adding another 36 feet (11 meters). The house has about 13,500 square feet (1,254 square meters) in total. About 9,900 square feet (919 square meters) is living space.
The house has two main fronts: one facing the city and one facing the river. The river side is more decorated. The mansion is built on a raised foundation of blue limestone. The walls are brick, painted a yellow-orange color, with white trim.
The southern, river-facing side has a two-story porch. This porch runs the entire length of the front. It has fancy iron railings and is held up by four tall, fluted wooden columns. These columns have detailed tops called Corinthian capitals. Above the columns is a decorative band with three round windows. A low, sloped roof with a fancy wooden edge sits on top. An eight-sided cupola (a small dome-like structure) crowns the roof. This cupola has wide eaves and decorative brackets.
The city-facing side of the house looks similar to the river side. However, it has a smaller, one-story porch in the center. This porch is supported by two fluted Corinthian columns. Iron balconies are found under the lower windows. The eastern service wing has two windows and a service entrance.
Inside the Mansion
The inside of the mansion has a central hallway. This formal entrance hall is 10 feet (3 meters) wide. It runs from north to south. There are two rooms on each side of the hall on the first floor. On the west side are two parlors (living rooms). On the east side are the dining room and the library.
The two parlors are mostly used as one large room. They have two black marble fireplaces and shiny mirrors. Chandeliers hang from the high 14-foot (4-meter) ceilings. The wide doorway between the parlors can be closed off. It is decorated with fluted Ionic columns and fancy molding.
An interesting feature in both parlors is a pair of doors on the east side. One of these doors opens only into a wall. This was done to make the room look perfectly balanced, matching the real entrance door from the hall.
The library has a very fancy ceiling decorated in gold leaf, deep red, and blue. A hallway separates the library from the dining room. This hallway leads to the service wing. The dining room has special botanical wallpaper from a French company called Zuber. This wallpaper uses a technique where each color is stamped separately onto the paper. The chandelier in the dining room features Bacchus, the Greek god of wine. The service wing has two rooms: a service room and the kitchen.
A self-supporting staircase leads to the upper floors. It starts in the middle of the entrance hall and spirals up to the cupola. The cupola lets natural light into the center of the house through a skylight.
The second floor has bedrooms in its four corners. Two smaller rooms are at each end of the central hall. A study is on the north end, and a nursery is on the south. The nursery connects to a bedroom in the southeast corner. The family's private rooms are less decorated than the main floor. The ceilings here are 12 feet (3.6 meters) high. The servants' wing has another bedroom, a bathroom, and a stairway to the first floor. The third floor is simply decorated with ceilings just over 6 feet (1.8 meters) high. It held smaller children, more servants' rooms, and storage.
The Mansion Grounds
The Lanier Mansion sits on a large, rectangular piece of land. It covers about 10 acres (4 hectares) within the city of Madison. The grounds are bordered by West 2nd Street, West Vaughan Street, Elm Street, and Vine Street.
Alexander Lanier, James F.D. Lanier's son, developed the mansion's grounds and gardens. He built several grand greenhouses in the late 1800s. Over time, these gardens were neglected and covered by flood silt.
Today, the gardens have been recreated based on an 1876 picture of the site. The modern landscape has four areas: Craven Square, the Upper Terrace, the Lower Terrace, and the Pasture. Craven Square was not part of the original grounds. It was given to the site in 1944. The city closed the part of First Street in front of the house. This means the grounds now stretch for a whole city block without interruption.
Craven Square features curving brick walkways and many flowering trees, shrubs, and annual plants. The Upper Terrace has a walled sunken garden built in 1928. The Lower Terrace is right in front of the south side of the house. It features recreated formal gardens with geometric patterns. These are surrounded by boxwood hedges and gravel paths. Beyond the formal gardens is the pasture, with views of the Ohio River.
Gallery
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East view of Mansion
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North view of Mansion
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Antique cellarette "sarcophagus" style
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North view of Mansion
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Historical marker on the grounds of the Lanier Mansion
