Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary Madison, Indiana |
||||||||
|
||||||||
The Francis Costigan House is considered a marvel in urban design with Costigan fitting the stylistic details associated with Greek Revival homes onto a 22-foot wide city lot. The two-story, red brick building is rectangular in plan with sandstone foundation and small basement windows on the façade. The house’s large windows have sandstone sills and slightly pedimented lintels. A projecting cornice with dentils and beading creates an entry portico supported by two Egyptian-influenced columns. The portico also sports a detailed coffered ceiling, an unexpected stylistic addition. Another thick cornice with decorative dentils follows the façade’s roofline.
Costigan’s architectural mastery continues on the house’s interior. The main entrance contains a sliding pocket door, which allowed Costigan improved use of the interior space usually reserved for a hinged front door. The drawing room’s tall windows and door embody the vertical emphasis seen in many of Costigan’s houses and the room’s bowed southeast end, complete with curved door, allows for a small entry hall. The high-style room has dual cast-iron fireplaces in black wood mantels embellished with carved ogee designs and gilded egg-and-dart molding. Straight flights of stairs from the hall and the dining room meet at a small second-floor landing and are separated by a removable swinging gate. In all, 14 Costigan-designed homes still stand in Madison’s National Historic Landmark district. Preservation group Cornerstone, Inc. offers a pamphlet and walking tour of the homes. The Francis Costigan House contributes to the historic significance of the Madison Historic District, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark.
|
||||||||