Joseph Mitchell House
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Joseph Mitchell House
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Roadside view of the house
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| Nearest city | Smithville, Indiana |
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| Coordinates | 39°4′21″N 86°32′58″W / 39.07250°N 86.54944°WCoordinates: 39°4′21″N 86°32′58″W / 39.07250°N 86.54944°W |
| Area | 5 acres (2.0 ha) |
| Built | 1835 |
| Architectural style | Federal |
| NRHP Reference # | 86001268 |
| Added to NRHP | June 13, 1986 |
The Joseph Mitchell House is a historic residence in southern Monroe County, Indiana, United States. Located on Ketcham Road west of the community of Smithville, it is one of the oldest houses in Monroe County, and it has been designated a historic site.
In 1823, Kentucky resident Joseph Mitchell was awarded a land grant in present day Monroe County in return for his service in the War of 1812. Six years later he moved his family to the site; here he built a log cabin, but as the years passed, it became insufficient for the family's needs. Accordingly, Mitchell constructed the present brick house in 1835, adding its final details two years later; the clay for its bricks was dug on his farm, and the bricks were fired in a kiln adjacent to the house site. After living in the house for fifteen years, Mitchell and his family moved to Iowa; they sold the property to Joseph's younger brother John, and it remained in the ownership of the Mitchell family until 1922. Starting in that year, it began to pass through the hands of several different owners before being purchased by longtime owners William and Nelda Christ in 1973; as of 2011, they still owned the property.
Mitchell built his house in the shape of the letter "L," one story high and in the Federal style of architecture. The building rests on a foundation of rubble masonry, and it is covered with a gabled roof with eaves and boxed cornices. The roof appears to have been built originally with wooden shingles, although the present shingles are now made of asphalt.
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