Exploring Indiana: Columbus, Architecture and Patronage
This week my husband and I celebrated seven years together (three years since we began to accrue benefits and privileges from the state’s recognition of our relationship). To commemorate our anniversary, we went to Columbus, Indiana. Columbus is a small town of just over 44,ooo residents a little under two hours from Crawfordsville. It’s famous for the many buildings of impressive architecture. Columbus became a place of impressive architecture mainly because of the patronage of the Irwin family. We stayed at the Inn at Irwin Gardens, the Irwin home that was originally built in 1864 by Joseph I. Irwin and remodeled in 1910 by William G. Irwin. It’s an Italianate home that feels ornate and important. It was the Irwin’s chauffeur, Clessie Cummins, who invented the high-speed diesel engine and founded Cummins Inc. J. Irwin Miller was born in the house that is now the Inn at Irwin Gardens, and it was he and his wife Xenia who were the creative and financial force behind the modern architectural surge of creativity that occurred in Columbus from the 1950s onward. Read more
The Trott Line 