National Park Service Hosts Annual Architecture Open House

Date: September 30, 2009

The National Park Service and the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana Annual Open House of homes from the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair will be on Saturday, October 10, and Sunday, October 11. The homes are now part of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and owned by the National Park Service.

The Cypress Log Cabin rehabilitation is complete and it now serves as residence. It will be open to the public for this weekend event. The other homes are undergoing rehabilitation, and are in various stages of construction. The Florida Tropical House and the first floor of the Armco Ferro House, the House of Tomorrow, and Wieboldt-Rostone House will also be open for that weekend.

The open house is limited in size and will be by reservation only. Reservations are being taken now at Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana.  You can also link to this website from www.nps.gov/indu. Your reservation includes a $15 per person transportation fee. Open House times will be assigned when making the reservations. Parking information and tickets will be mailed after the reservations are received. For more information contact Jennifer Gregar from the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana at [phone].

The Chicago World’s Fair, A Century of Progress, was organized around the theme of science and its role in industrial development. The Fair’s model homes featured revolutionary materials, innovative building methods, modern home appliances, and new construction techniques. The homes were moved by barge and truck to Northwest Indiana at the close of the Fair, and remained in private ownership until the early 1970’s when they were purchased by the National Park Service for inclusion in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. The homes are undergoing rehabilitation with private funds through a partnership between the National Park Service, the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, and private individuals.

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is one of 391 units of the National Park System ranging from Yellowstone to the Statue of Liberty. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore includes 15 miles of the southern shoreline of Lake Michigan and 15,000 acres of beach, woods, marshes, and prairie in the northwest corner of Indiana.

For additional information on this, or other National Park Service programs, contact the information desk at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore at 219-395-8914.