Broad Ripple Historic Home Tour

by Jim Newell

I, for one, am looking forward to this Saturday’s Broad Ripple Historic Home Tour. Although I only “officially” lived in Broad Ripple for about a year (plus the occasional night), there are some very sweet homes in the area. And … for only ten bucks I can finally get past their front doors!

Running from 10 am until 6 pm this Saturday the 25th, this year’s tour is the sixth annual and is featuring ten very distinctive, historically unique homes. The homes are between 70 and 120 years old, and each has a very unique, fascinating story to tell. From my experience, that’s the reason to go. See, this isn’t just about enjoying the architecture and stealing the latest in remodeling ideas – it’s about each home’s individual story. This is kind of like a brush with greatness thing. Whether it’s a ghost story, a heartwarming tale from former owners, or that George Washington slept there, each is its own, and that why I’m going. I still want to find a previous owner of a 1920’s house I owned for several years. On the wall inside the door to the attic were scrawled the words, “A victim of fire”. A joke? Maybe. I choose to believe there’s a great story there. Plus, it was across the street from where John Hiatt grew up. See? One house, two stories!

Which Broad Ripple homes are on the tour this year?

6511 Riverview Drive
6060 Park Avenue
6007 Broadway Street
5946 Guilford Avenue
6130 Guilford Avenue
6112 Haverford Avenue
6026 Haverford Avenue
6017 Indianola Avenue
1315 Kessler Boulevard East Drive
5957 Norwaldo Avenue

Go. Do it. It’s better than doing nothing. And by Saturday evening you’ll have a bunch of stories to tell.

What’s Broad Ripple, you ask? Broad Ripple (or Broad Ripple Village, as the locals call it) is the eclectic/Bohemian side of Indianapolis, along with some other very distinctive neighborhoods like Fountain Square. It’s one of only six Indy areas designated as an Indianapolis Cultural District. Here’s the sales pitch: If you’d like to get in on the act and own one of these incredible unique homes and learn to tell its story, see what’s for sale now.

Posted by: Jim Newell