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Vinegar Hill Historic District
Vinegar Hill Historic District.jpg
Houses in the district
Vinegar Hill Historic District is located in Indiana
Vinegar Hill Historic District
Location in Indiana
Vinegar Hill Historic District is located in the United States
Vinegar Hill Historic District
Location in the United States
Location E. 1st St. from Woodlawn to Jordan and S. Sheridan to E. Maxwell, Bloomington, Indiana
Area 21 acres (8.5 ha)
Architect Alfred Grindle, et al.
Architectural style Multiple
NRHP reference No. 05000195
Added to NRHP June 17, 2005

The Vinegar Hill Historic District is a historic district and neighborhood in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. Built primarily in the second quarter of the twentieth century, and located a few blocks south of Indiana University Bloomington campus, Vinegar Hill has been the home of leading Indiana University faculty members. It has inspired literary attention, and it has been designated a historic site.

Construction

Rapid growth in the importance of Bloomington's limestone industry made limestone company executives wealthy and created heavy demand for skilled stonecutters in the city. As limestone became the city's leading industry in the 1920s, an apple orchard was removed to permit the extension of First Street eastward up a long hill and the platting of a new neighborhood. Several other city neighborhoods, such as the distinctive Prospect Hill, already bore topographical names; according to local tradition, the fermentation of apples from the orchard produced a distinctive smell that became the neighborhood's namesake. The first families to build houses in this new development were those of stonecutters, many of whom were European immigrants. Leading among these families were the Donatos, whose members built seven significant houses in the neighborhood. Because so many of the new residents were skilled stoneworkers, they decorated their houses with carvings and sculptures that would have been far too expensive for all but the richest members of society. At the top of Vinegar Hill were the mansions of the wealthy limestone executives; like the workers' houses below them, these homes featured ornate stonework with images such as those of the children of the homeowners. Yet other residents of the district were some prominent Indiana University faculty, including professor Alfred Kinsey, music dean Winfred Merrill, and Nobel-winning biology professor Hermann Muller.

Architecture

As limestone workers and owners, the residents of Vinegar Hill naturally looked to limestone as the material for their own houses. They used these materials to construct residences in a wide range of architectural styles, including American Craftsman, Neoclassical, and Art Deco. Inside, the houses were also ornate: many feature mantels and balusters of carven stone, and the four houses built by Christopher Donato also include elaborate transoms and lintels. The most prominent houses in the neighborhood are the hilltop homes of the wealthy near the eastern end of the district; here may be found styles such as Tudor Revival and Georgian-influenced Colonial Revival. Throughout the district, many houses are found in various forms of Colonial and English Revivals, and multiple Spanish Colonial Revivals are among the most significant residences of the lower part of the hill. Among the books that have concentrated on the architecture of Vinegar Hill is Carol Shields' novel The Stone Diaries, in which the neighborhood is part of the setting for much of the novel.

Closely related to the neighborhood's distinctive architecture is the unusually significant lawn furniture present around many of the houses. Objects such as detailed individual portraits, carvings of lions and griffins, and sculptures of children make the neighborhood unique: it is the only neighborhood anywhere in Indiana in which lawn furniture is a major element of the area's historic nature.

Historic assessment

Between 1999 and 2001, historic preservation officials working with the city of Bloomington surveyed the entire city and identified over two thousand buildings that were deemed to be historic to one extent or another, most of which were concentrated in several historic districts. Composing one of these districts were sixty-one buildings on Vinegar Hill; deemed contributing properties, they help to make the district historic. These buildings were divided into three classifications: Outstanding, Notable, and Contributing. Properties rated as "Outstanding" were deemed to be historically significant enough to deserve consideration for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places by themselves; "Notable" properties were worthy of special consideration, although not likely to be worthy of individual National Register status; "Contributing" locations were seen as significant parts of their historic districts, but not of great significance by themselves. Eight of Vinegar Hill's contributing properties received an "Outstanding" rating, and thirteen were deemed "Notable;" only thirty-one were called "Contributing." The district includes a disproportionately large number of above-average properties: about 13% of the city's sites were named either "Notable" or "Outstanding," in contrast to 40% of those on Vinegar Hill. Particularly unusual is the concentration of eight "Outstanding" properties, which represented one-eighth of all such buildings citywide.

In 2003, a movement started to have Vinegar Hill accorded the national recognition that it was seen as lacking, and the city received a historic preservation grant from the state government for use in the district. In an attempt to have it nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, an Indiana University class began collecting detailed information about the district's houses and interviewed many residents in order to gather support for the proposed nomination. Support grew for according federal recognition to the neighborhood, and it was officially added to the National Register on June 17, 2005. Although the city-designated historic district encompasses fifty-two contributing properties, all of which are buildings, the area designated as historic by the federal government comprises seventy-one contributing buildings and thirty-eight other contributing sites, structures, and objects.

Table of contributing properties

Appearing in the table below are the buildings included within the boundaries of the city-designated historic district.

Rating Image Address Year Style Comments
Notable First Street 1001, Muller House, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1001 First Street
39°9′34″N 86°31′20.5″W / 39.15944°N 86.522361°W / 39.15944; -86.522361 (1001 1st St.)		 1948 Dutch Colonial Revival Home of Hermann Muller; known as the "Muller House"
Outstanding First Street 1002, Mazzullo House, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1002 First Street
39°9′33″N 86°31′21″W / 39.15917°N 86.52250°W / 39.15917; -86.52250 (1002 1st St.)		 1934 Spanish Colonial Revival Known as the "Mazzullo House"
Contributing First Street 1006, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1006 First Street
39°9′33″N 86°31′20″W / 39.15917°N 86.52222°W / 39.15917; -86.52222 (1006 1st St.)		 1926-27 Dutch Colonial Revival
Contributing First Street 1010, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1010 First Street
39°9′33″N 86°31′19.5″W / 39.15917°N 86.522083°W / 39.15917; -86.522083 (1010 1st St.)		 1945 American Foursquare
Notable First Street 1014, Franzman House, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1014 First Street
39°9′33″N 86°31′19″W / 39.15917°N 86.52194°W / 39.15917; -86.52194 (1014 1st St.)		 1928 Arts and Crafts/Bungalow Known as the "Franzman House"
Contributing First Street 1017, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1017 First Street
39°9′34″N 86°31′19″W / 39.15944°N 86.52194°W / 39.15944; -86.52194 (1017 1st St.)		 1927 Colonial Revival Known as "Nerd Mansion"
Contributing First Street 1018, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1018 First Street
39°9′33″N 86°31′18.2″W / 39.15917°N 86.521722°W / 39.15917; -86.521722 (1018 1st St.)		 1928 American Foursquare
Outstanding First Street 1019, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1019 First Street
39°9′34″N 86°31′18″W / 39.15944°N 86.52167°W / 39.15944; -86.52167 (1019 1st St.)		 1941 Art Deco Built by Chris Donato
Contributing First Street 1022, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1022 First Street
39°9′33″N 86°31′17.5″W / 39.15917°N 86.521528°W / 39.15917; -86.521528 (1022 1st St.)		 1955 Tudor Revival
Outstanding First Street 1025, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1025 First Street
39°9′34″N 86°31′17.4″W / 39.15944°N 86.521500°W / 39.15944; -86.521500 (1025 1st St.)		 1940 Art Deco Built by Chris Donato
Contributing First Street 1026, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1026 First Street
39°9′33″N 86°31′16.8″W / 39.15917°N 86.521333°W / 39.15917; -86.521333 (1026 1st St.)		 1929 Spanish Colonial Revival
Contributing First Street 1104, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1104 First Street
39°9′33″N 86°31′15.6″W / 39.15917°N 86.521000°W / 39.15917; -86.521000 (1104 1st St.)		 1928 Colonial Revival
Notable First Street 1107, Donato House, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1107 First Street
39°9′34″N 86°31′16.8″W / 39.15944°N 86.521333°W / 39.15944; -86.521333 (1107 1st St.)		 1938 Renaissance Revival Known as the "Donato House"
Contributing First Street 1108, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1108 First Street
39°9′33″N 86°31′14.7″W / 39.15917°N 86.520750°W / 39.15917; -86.520750 (1108 1st St.)		 1928 Colonial Revival
Contributing First Street 1109, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1109 First Street
39°9′34″N 86°31′16″W / 39.15944°N 86.52111°W / 39.15944; -86.52111 (1109 1st St.)		 1937 Colonial Revival
Notable First Street 1111, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1111 First Street
39°9′34″N 86°31′15.3″W / 39.15944°N 86.520917°W / 39.15944; -86.520917 (1111 1st St.)		 1940-41 Art Deco
Contributing First Street 1112, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1112 First Street
39°9′33″N 86°31′14″W / 39.15917°N 86.52056°W / 39.15917; -86.52056 (1112 1st St.)		 1928 American Foursquare
Contributing First Street 1113, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1113 First Street
39°9′34″N 86°31′14.7″W / 39.15944°N 86.520750°W / 39.15944; -86.520750 (1113 1st St.)		 1937-40 Colonial Revival
Contributing First Street 1115, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1115 First Street
39°9′34″N 86°31′14″W / 39.15944°N 86.52056°W / 39.15944; -86.52056 (1115 1st St.)		 1932-36 French Renaissance Revival
Outstanding First Street 1116, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1116 First Street
39°9′33″N 86°31′13.2″W / 39.15917°N 86.520333°W / 39.15917; -86.520333 (1116 1st St.)		 1928 Spanish Colonial Revival
Outstanding First Street 1119, Anthony House, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1119 First Street
39°9′34″N 86°31′13.2″W / 39.15944°N 86.520333°W / 39.15944; -86.520333 (1119 1st St.)		 1937-40 Spanish Colonial Revival Known as the "Anthony House"
Contributing First Street 1120, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1120 First Street
39°9′33″N 86°31′12″W / 39.15917°N 86.52000°W / 39.15917; -86.52000 (1120 1st St.)		 1928 Dutch Colonial Revival
Contributing First Street 1122, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1122 First Street
39°9′33″N 86°31′7″W / 39.15917°N 86.51861°W / 39.15917; -86.51861 (1122 1st St.)		 1930 American Foursquare
Notable First Street 1123, Bruner House, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1123 First Street
39°9′34″N 86°31′12″W / 39.15944°N 86.52000°W / 39.15944; -86.52000 (1123 1st St.)		 1933 Spanish Colonial Revival Known as the "Bruner House"
Contributing First Street 1127, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1127 First Street
39°9′34″N 86°31′11.4″W / 39.15944°N 86.519833°W / 39.15944; -86.519833 (1127 1st St.)		 1951 Colonial Revival
Contributing First Street 1130, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1130 First Street
39°9′33″N 86°31′9.6″W / 39.15917°N 86.519333°W / 39.15917; -86.519333 (1130 1st St.)		 1928 Colonial Revival
Contributing First Street 1200, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1200 First Street
39°9′33″N 86°31′8.8″W / 39.15917°N 86.519111°W / 39.15917; -86.519111 (1200 1st St.)		 1927 Renaissance Revival
Contributing First Street 1202, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1202 First Street
39°9′33″N 86°31′8″W / 39.15917°N 86.51889°W / 39.15917; -86.51889 (1202 1st St.)		 1926 Tudor Revival
Notable First Street 1213, Humphries House, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1213 First Street
39°9′34″N 86°31′6.4″W / 39.15944°N 86.518444°W / 39.15944; -86.518444 (1213 1st St.)		 1938-39 Tudor Revival Known as the "Humphries House"
Contributing First Street 1214, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1214 First Street
39°9′33″N 86°31′5.2″W / 39.15917°N 86.518111°W / 39.15917; -86.518111 (1214 1st St.)		 1934 French Provincial
Contributing First Street 1220, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1220 First Street
39°9′33″N 86°31′4.4″W / 39.15917°N 86.517889°W / 39.15917; -86.517889 (1220 1st St.)		 1939 Colonial Revival
Contributing First Street 1300, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1300 First Street
39°9′33″N 86°31′3.2″W / 39.15917°N 86.517556°W / 39.15917; -86.517556 (1300 1st St.)		 1928 Colonial Revival
Notable First Street 1319, David Wylie House, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1319 First Street
39°9′34″N 86°31′1.6″W / 39.15944°N 86.517111°W / 39.15944; -86.517111 (1319 1st St.)		 1928 Tudor Revival Known as the "David Wylie House"; designed and built by Charles A. Pike Construction
Notable First Street 1320, Kinsey House, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1320 First Street
39°9′33″N 86°31′1″W / 39.15917°N 86.51694°W / 39.15917; -86.51694 (1320 1st St.)		 1927 Tudor Revival Home of Alfred Kinsey; known as the "Kinsey House". Designed and built by Charles A. Pike Construction
Notable First Street 1323, Cline House, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1323 First Street
39°9′34″N 86°31′1″W / 39.15944°N 86.51694°W / 39.15944; -86.51694 (1323 1st St.)		 1928 Tudor Revival Known as the "Cline House"; designed and built by Charles A. Pike Construction
Outstanding First Street 1327, Woodward House, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1327 First Street
39°9′34″N 86°31′0″W / 39.15944°N 86.51667°W / 39.15944; -86.51667 (1327 1st St.)		 1928 Tudor Revival Known as the "Woodward House"; designed by Alfred Grindle
Notable First Street 1330, Krebs House, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 1330 First Street
39°9′33″N 86°30′59.6″W / 39.15917°N 86.516556°W / 39.15917; -86.516556 (1330 1st St.)		 1928 American Foursquare Known as the "Krebs House"
Contributing Ballantine Road 714, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 714 Ballantine Road
39°9′34.5″N 86°31′10″W / 39.159583°N 86.51944°W / 39.159583; -86.51944 (714 Ballantine Rd.)		 1928 Colonial Revival
Contributing Ballantine Road 720, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 720 Ballantine Road
39°9′34″N 86°31′10″W / 39.15944°N 86.51944°W / 39.15944; -86.51944 (720 Ballantine Rd.)		 1927 Colonial Revival
Contributing Ballantine Road 721, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 721 Ballantine Road
39°9′34″N 86°31′8″W / 39.15944°N 86.51889°W / 39.15944; -86.51889 (721 Ballantine Rd.)		 1937 Tudor Revival
Outstanding Highland Avenue 725, Irvin Matthews House, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 725 Highland Avenue
39°9′34″N 86°31′3″W / 39.15944°N 86.51750°W / 39.15944; -86.51750 (725 Highland Ave.)		 1927 Tudor Revival Known as the "Irvin Matthews House"; designed by Alfred Grindle
Contributing Jordan Avenue 700, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 700 Jordan Avenue
39°9′36″N 86°31′0″W / 39.16000°N 86.51667°W / 39.16000; -86.51667 (700 Jordan Ave.)		 1933 Tudor Revival
Contributing Jordan Avenue 701, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 701 Jordan Avenue
39°9′35.4″N 86°30′58″W / 39.159833°N 86.51611°W / 39.159833; -86.51611 (701 Jordan Ave.)		 1930 Tudor Revival
Contributing Jordan Avenue 710, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 710 Jordan Avenue
39°9′35.4″N 86°30′58″W / 39.159833°N 86.51611°W / 39.159833; -86.51611 (710 Jordan Ave.)		 1930 Tudor Revival
Contributing Jordan Avenue 719, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 719 Jordan Avenue
39°9′34.5″N 86°30′58″W / 39.159583°N 86.51611°W / 39.159583; -86.51611 (719 Jordan Ave.)		 1930 Colonial Revival
Contributing Jordan Avenue 727, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 727 Jordan Avenue
39°9′34″N 86°30′58″W / 39.15944°N 86.51611°W / 39.15944; -86.51611 (727 Jordan Ave.)		 1930 Tudor Revival
Notable Sheridan Drive 800, Hoadley House, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 800 Sheridan Drive
39°9′32.4″N 86°30′58″W / 39.159000°N 86.51611°W / 39.159000; -86.51611 (800 Sheridan Dr.)		 1938 Georgian Revival Known as the "Hoadley House"
Notable Sheridan Drive 824, Merrill House, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 824 Sheridan Drive
39°9′31.5″N 86°30′56.4″W / 39.158750°N 86.515667°W / 39.158750; -86.515667 (824 Sheridan Dr.)		 1928 French Renaissance Revival Known as the "Merrill House"; designed by Ernest Flagg
Notable Sheridan Drive 836, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 836 Sheridan Drive
39°9′30″N 86°30′55″W / 39.15833°N 86.51528°W / 39.15833; -86.51528 (836 Sheridan Dr.)		 1930 Renaissance Revival
Contributing Sheridan Drive 837, Sullivan House, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 837 Sheridan Drive
39°9′30.8″N 86°30′52.8″W / 39.158556°N 86.514667°W / 39.158556; -86.514667 (837 Sheridan Dr.)		 1929 Tudor Revival Known as the "Sullivan House"
Contributing Sheridan Drive 840, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 840 Sheridan Drive
39°9′29.2″N 86°30′55.2″W / 39.158111°N 86.515333°W / 39.158111; -86.515333 (840 Sheridan Dr.)		 1938 Tudor Revival
Outstanding Woodlawn Avenue 715-717, Vinegar Hill HD.jpg 715-717 Woodlawn Avenue
39°9′34.8″N 86°31′21″W / 39.159667°N 86.52250°W / 39.159667; -86.52250 (715-717 Woodlawn Ave.)		 1937 Eclectic
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