OPERATION: SHIP OF THE DESERT - HILLFOREST MANSION

Listen up. We are analyzing the Hillforest Mansion in Aurora, Indiana. This Italian Renaissance estate was commissioned in 1855. Architect Isaiah Rogers was assigned to build this for Thomas Gaff, a Scottish-born businessman who held a monopoly on distilleries and railroads. The objective for Gaff was clear. He wanted his home to look like the 19th-century steamships dominating the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. It is a successful tactical imitation of a vessel.

The structure is a 2-story frame build with a low-pitch hip roof. The front uses vertical wide board siding. The sides use shiplap with wooden quoin blocks. There is a single-story porch at the front. A second-story porch wraps around the central projection. The windows are full-length because the design team apparently deemed actual doors to the porches to be too much effort. It is a masterpiece of aesthetic convenience.

Interior intel shows the walls are covered in original Trompe-l'œil artwork. The Gaff family held the territory until 1926 when William Stark took over the site. The building later served as a VFW lodge before being converted into a museum in 1956. It is currently under the command of the Hillforest Historical Foundation. It is a high-value asset.

The 11-acre estate features formal gardens and old farmland. You might spot a carriage house in the perimeter, but do not get excited. That is a non-historic reconstruction from the 1970s. Since 1992, it has been a National Historic Landmark. It remains a well-preserved example of Rogers' work. Dismissed.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons