Wylie House
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Andrew Wylie House
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Wylie House
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| Location | 307 E. 2nd St., Bloomington, Indiana |
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| Coordinates | 39°9′42″N 86°31′50″W / 39.16167°N 86.53056°WCoordinates: 39°9′42″N 86°31′50″W / 39.16167°N 86.53056°W |
| Area | 0.1 acres (0.040 ha) |
| Built | 1835 |
| Architectural style | Federal |
| NRHP Reference # | 77000013 |
| Added to NRHP | April 18, 1977 |
Wylie House is a historic structure built in 1835 and located in Bloomington, Indiana. It was home of Andrew Wylie, first president of Indiana University, until his death in 1851. In 1859, following the death of Andrew's widow Margaret, Theophilus Adam Wylie, professor at Indiana University and half-cousin to Andrew, purchased the house from their heirs and his family resided there until his widow's death in 1913. Today Wylie House is operated as an historic house museum by Indiana University Libraries to interpret the lives of these families.
In transitioning from the "State Seminary" to Indiana College in 1828 the state legislature sought to hire a college president. They offered the position to Andrew Wylie, then president of Washington College (now Washington & Jefferson College) in western Pennsylvania, who accepted. In 1829 Wylie arrived in Bloomington, Indiana with his wife, Margaret Ritchie, and their children. Wylie became the first president and third faculty member of the newly renamed Indiana College. (In 1838 the name changed again to Indiana University. It was also sometimes referred to as Indiana State University in the mid-nineteenth century.) For the first several years the family resided in rental properties. In 1835 Andrew Wylie built a house on a 20-acre (81,000 m2) tract of land near the college that he had purchased in 1829 and 1830. Andrew, Margaret and ten of their twelve children lived in the house, in various numbers from 1835 to 1859.
The house itself is a two story brick structure, with a Flemish bond facade. Atypical for buildings of the 1830s, the house is a blend of Georgian and Federal styles. This style may have seemed old fashioned compared to the contemporary Greek Revival style that was becoming fashionable at the time of construction. One explanation of this architectural choice relates to the area from which the Wylies arrived. Southwestern Pennsylvania was culturally influenced by northern Virginia, an area that continued to be dominated by Georgian architecture. Further, Wylie designed his house based on Manchester house, a home in Washington County, Pennsylvania, which in turn recreates the builder's original house in Newport, Rhode Island. The widow's walk present in Wylie's house is evidence of this connection.
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