Hillforest Mansion – Aurora Indiana

Tours Travel

Situated on 10 acres of land high on a hill overlooking the Ohio River, Hillforest Mansion offers a breathtaking scene. Just as impressive is its colorful past. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, in 1992 it was awarded the honor of being designated a National Historic Landmark, placing it on the same level of prominence as Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.

Designed in 1853 by Isaiah Rogers, an architect known as the “father of the modern hotel,” it was designed for Thomas Gaff and his family, who occupied it from 1855 to 1891.

Shipping and river boats were important elements of Gaff’s business ventures and are reflected in the architecture of the home.

Although based on the architectural style of the Italian Renaissance, the design of the two-story house reflects Gaff’s involvement in the shipping industry with its full-width front porch reminiscent of the deck of a steamboat. Its many features include Ventian glass windows, elaborate plaster moldings, a museum room, and an underground wine cellar.

The suspended staircase had the pattern of those at the ends of the Great Hall on the most elaborate riverboats of the time. The Gaff children reportedly once rode a pony up these stairs and out the back door.

Thomas Gaff was born in Scotland in July 1808. After coming to the United States, he learned papermaking and the distillery business. Along with his brother James, they became involved in many other businesses, including a jewelry store, a Nevada silver mine, agriculture, road and canal construction, machine jobs, and a mill in Columbus, Indiana that produced the first ready-to-eat cereal. use of the world.

Needing to transport their brewery and distillery products, they also owned a fleet of steamboats. During the Civil War they supplied the Union Army with steamboats, from which one of them, the Queen of the Forest, became the headquarters of Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman and successfully rammed the blockade of Vicksburg.

In their spare time, the brothers participated in many civic affairs, helped organize the local school system, established the First National Bank of Aurora, and served on the city council.

Today Hillforest is a non-profit museum and is open to the public.

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