CAMPBELLSBURG – A 19th-century home with ties to a storied architect and a town founder is for sale in tiny Campbellsburg, Ind. (pop. 525), but needs to be restored to its former glory.
The Wilkins House at 140 Sycamore Street was previously threatened with demolition when town leaders targeted the property for a new town well. Indiana Landmarks recognized the house’s significant architectural provenance and convinced town officials to rethink their plans.
The nonprofit organization will rehabilitate the exterior including a new roof, siding and carpentry repairs, structural repairs, gutter work, painting, and more. Interior work will include kitchen and bath upgrades and repair to trim and finishes. The organization will also relocate a smokehouse on the property.
The home, half-acre lot, and four historic outbuildings had been on the market for two years, for $44,900. but when no buyer surfaced, Indiana Landmarks bought the home for $30,000 and plans to invest $195,000 in rehabbing the architecturally significant property. The Washington County Community Foundation is supporting the project with a $5,000 grant to Indiana Landmarks.
Once repairs are complete, Indiana Landmarks expects to offer the home for sale next summer, seeking a buyer who will finish the restoration and return the home to its former glory.
Built by John T. C. Wilkins in 1858, the home was renovated and expanded in the 1890s using details published by George F. Barber, a Tennessee architect who sold his designs through mail-order catalogs.
Known for his ornate Queen Anne style, Barber designed homes with turrets, gingerbread trim, balconies, porches, projecting windows, and arches. With their exuberant “more is more” architectural aesthetic, Barber-designed homes have captured an enthusiastic following, including at least one Facebook group.
The designs apparently were quite popular with the Wilkins family, who built three other Barber homes in Campbellsburg. Today this group of four surviving houses constitutes a rare concentration of Barber homes connected to a single family in a small town, attracting the interest of Barber aficionados around the country. While three of the houses have been maintained, the Wilkins House has been neglected for decades, leaving it in a state of serious disrepair.
“In four George F. Barber-designed houses that have miraculously survived, the Wilkins family left an extraordinary imprint on Campbellsburg,” says Greg Sekula, director of Indiana Landmarks’ Southern Regional Office. “These beautiful buildings are such an asset in a struggling rural community. We hope that preserving them will help draw attention to the town and attract investment in the community.”
