Blair-Dunning House
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Blair–Dunning House
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Front of the Blair–Dunning House
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| Location | 608 W. 3rd St., Bloomington, Indiana |
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| Coordinates | 39°9′52″N 86°32′24″W / 39.16444°N 86.54000°WCoordinates: 39°9′52″N 86°32′24″W / 39.16444°N 86.54000°W |
| Area | Less than 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built | 1822 |
| Architect | Enos Blair |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival, Federal |
| Part of | Prospect Hill Historic District (#91000272) |
| NRHP reference # | 83000009 |
| Added to NRHP | February 10, 1983 |
The Blair–Dunning House is a historic house on the west side of Bloomington, Indiana, United States. Built in the 1820s as a farmhouse, it now lies at the heart of one of the city's neighborhoods, and it is one of Bloomington's most prominent houses. Once the home of the Governor of Indiana, it has been designated a historic site.
The first settler on the grounds of the present house was Robertson Graham, who began farming there in 1817. He inhabited the land for a short time, selling it to the town of Bloomington in 1819. Construction of the Blair–Dunning House was a gradual process that lasted from 1822 to 1845, costing approximately $1,200. Its builder and first resident, Enos Blair, was one of Monroe County's most prominent citizens: among the area's first settlers, he served as the first jailer for the city of Bloomington and later held the offices of sheriff and Justice of the peace. Blair died in 1845; over the next twenty years, the house passed through many hands, including those of state representatives Elias Abel and Ransom Akin.
The original part of the Blair–Dunning House is a rectangular brick structure with a stone foundation, two stories tall and covered with a gabled roof. It is a linear quadruple-pen structure, measuring far longer east-west than north-south. Because the house occupies a hilly lot, the foundation under the front of the house is visible above the surface of the ground. Prominent elements of the exterior include large rectangular double-hung windows with limestone sills and lintels, a frieze with cornice, and corbelled chimneys on the eastern and western ends. The various elements of the house's design combine to form a structure that mixes the Greek Revival and Federal styles of architecture.
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