Indiana House, Indianapolis, IN

Designed by Deborah Berke in the late 1980s, the Indiana House was sold by the original owner to our clients, a young family.  The house is sited on a bluff above the White River in a secluded residential neighborhood in Indianapolis.

Modifications were required to meet the new owners’ needs including at-home workspace and an area for outdoor entertaining.  Another design brief was to heighten the connection of the house to the landscape.  In collaboration with landscape architects A2 Design, the lawn facing the bluff was redesigned in a gentle arc shape, centered on a firepit and seating area.  

The firepit terminates the axis of the breezeway that cuts through the house, and forms the starting point of the route down to the riverside.  Previously the path to the river had been a treacherous path over boulders and tree roots.  We designed a stair of black stained wood and fiberglass grating that meanders through a 70-foot grade change, ending in a deck that floats above the river. A future phase of the project includes an outdoor dining pavilion perched at the edge of the bluff.

On the interior, a redesigned workroom with tall French doors opens onto a new second floor terrace, which in turn shelters an outdoor cooking area below.   The interior palette extends the original language of maple floors and white walls, but adds points of contrast with walnut millwork and charcoal-colored tiles.

Photographs: Eric Lubrick
Project Team: Robert Schultz, Navajeet Khatri
Landscape Design: A2 Design
Structural Engineering:  Silver Creek Engingeering, Inc.
General Contacting: Wrightworks LLC