Oldfields
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Oldfields (Josiah Kirby Lilly Jr. House)
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| Location | 1200 W. 38th St., Indianapolis, Indiana |
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| Coordinates | 39°49′42″N 86°11′7.5″W / 39.82833°N 86.185417°WCoordinates: 39°49′42″N 86°11′7.5″W / 39.82833°N 86.185417°W |
| Area | 32 acres (13 ha) |
| Built | 1913 |
| Architect | Davis, Lewis Ketcham; Olmsted Brothers |
| Architectural style | Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals |
| NRHP Reference # | 00000676 and 03001041 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | June 15, 2000 (original) July 31, 2003 (increase) |
| Designated NHLD | July 31, 2003 |
Oldfields also known as Lilly House and Gardens, is a 26-acre historic estate and house museum on the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The estate, an example of the American country house movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 2003.
Oldfields was built between 1909 and 1913 by architect Lewis Ketcham Davis for the family of Hugh McKennan Landon, who occupied the home from 1913 until 1932 when it was sold to Josiah K. Lilly Jr. Lilly, the late Indianapolis businessman, collector, and philanthropist, renovated and expanded the estate throughout the 1930s and 1940s, updating interiors as well as adding a number of new buildings to the grounds.
Now known as Lilly House, the 22-room mansion has undergone historic restoration and is now open to the public on the campus of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The historic house is currently interpreted to reflect the 1930s era when the Lilly family occupied the residence. The rest of the Oldfields estate, which was given to the Art Association of Indianapolis by Lilly's children in 1967, now makes up a major portion of the Indianapolis Museum of Art campus. In addition to the home's significance as a representation of the American country house movement, Oldfields' gardens and grounds are a rare example of a preserved estate landscape designed by Percival Gallagher of the Olmsted Brothers firm.
Oldfields was established as part of the Town of Woodstock, a tract of land purchased and developed by Hugh McKennan Landon and Linnaes C. Boyd around 1910 as a suburban neighborhood north of Indianapolis. The area was adjacent to the 555 acre Crown Hill Cemetery and the White River, and included residential lots, a reservoir, and a country club. Landon reserved 26 acres, or about half of the land, for the construction of Oldfields, which was completed around 1913.
In 1932, in the midst of the Great Depression, Josiah K. Lilly Jr. purchased the estate. In spite of the economic times, Lilly undertook a number of renovation and expansion projects on the property, including an extension to the south for a new library, renovation of the stair hall and front entrance, and the addition of a vestibule that aligned the entrance with the allée at the front of the property.
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