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The pride that cottage residents take in their turn-of-the-century frame homes is palpable. Good vibes declare themselves in the intricately painted gingerbread-trim layers and the colors—a mix of earth tones and bold yellows, blues and purples.
Within sight of Indianapolis' high-rise office towers, Cottage Home is a funky downtown community of 160 or so homes that date to the late 19th century, when they housed railroad workers, German
carpenters, a large Irish population, and African-American families that have stayed for generations. Now they house many artists and musicians. Urban renewal left the neighborhood a bit gap-toothed. Since then, some homes have been fixed up to a tee; others still need considerable work. "We didn't want overnight gentrification," says
former neighborhood association president Joan Hostetler, a resident since 1984. "We really tried to work with the people who have lived here for generations, and that has enriched all our lives."
Community Profile Location: just over a mile from Monument Circle
at the heart of Indianapolis
Map it: Cottage Home Number of homes: 160
What $300,000 will buy you: the nicest home in the
neighborhood (and you'd probably still have $25,000 to $50,000left over for decorating)
Closest latte: Vic's Coffee Café, right off nearby
Massachusetts Avenue
For more info: www.cottagehome.info The Way They Live
photography: Mathew Gilson
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Homes: Some of the most attractive houses in Cottage Home are also the smallest—tiny shotguns whose square footage barely noses into four figures, and
single-story Queen Anne-style gems with fish-scale shingles and turned porch posts. You’ll find the prettiest along Dorman, Polk, and Highland streets, their gardens bursting with hostas and irises.
People: After years spent hauling their neighborhood back from the brink of urban oblivion—renovating homes, beautifying the community, and fighting highway and industrial-park development plans—neighbors here are a famously tight-knit bunch. "Maybe even too close," says Joan Hostetler with a chuckle. "It’s more like family with lots of
visiting from home to home."
Shops and Hangouts: Cottage Home runs just off Massachusetts Avenue, where you’ll find
restaurants, theaters, galleries, and coffee shops. Locals walk to plays at the Phoenix Theater, housed in a former church, and
let their hair down at the Dorman Street Saloon, a classic dive
located in an 1871 cottage.
Greenspace: Cottage Home feels refreshingly green for a downtown neighborhood. The main reason is that residents have made the most of their empty lots, converting them into pocket parks, such as Cottage Home Park, with its picket fence, garden shed, and community bulletin board.
Cottage Twist: This being the Midwest, residents
converted five empty lots into urban prairies with mowed
walking paths. Here, they grow pumpkins, maintain beehives, and, with limited success, have been trying to coax wildlife. In the middle is a piece of art—Joe’s Ladder, leading up to the stars—placed in memory of the
ladder’s former owner who once lived here.
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