It was a nice outing during Christmas break to visit the IMA and Oldfields-Lilly House. It was decorated for Christmas. It was just a little too busy so I felt rushed, but overall a nice experience.
Nice house and grounds but not on par with other estate in America. Expectations are that you would see a far more opulent house and furniture with graciously designed grounds and gardens. Not so.
The property is beautiful, both the home and the gardens around it. It offers several options including a group tour at designated times or the ability to just explore the house on your own. That's what we opted for. It was filled with beautiful, authentic pieces and decorated for the holidays. Each room had pictures of the evolution of the space throughout the years and there were a lot of interesting historical details about the people who lived there and what life was like in the Indianapolis area during those days. Plus, it was free admission which made it even better!
This was so easy to get to from downtown. And and interesting little drive there. This is on the same grounds as the Art Museum which can be a bit confusing at first. We stopped by the greenhouse first. They had many interesting plants fort purchase and a little gift shop with unique items. We then moved on to the house and were pleasantly surprised to find it was free. They talked about a special holiday shop in the house but it was not much to speak of. A few ornaments and such but nothing special or distinctive. You can do a self guided tour or use a docent. Our time constraints dictacted we do the self guided tour. I love olf houses and this was a good one. Furnishing were a bit tired but I could mostly look past that and imagine the home in it's heyday. They often had photos of what it looked lie "when". The docent in the front hall was a mean crusty old woman. Why she was there I'll never know.
They already had holiday decorations up and there were unfortunate. I realize this was a free tour but they were sad pieces that were just pieced together. A bit tacky.
I did love seeing this old house and am so glad we made the drive out.
This home is especially beautiful to visit during the holiday season.Highly recommend going on the tour. Worth learning more about the history of this beautiful home and the grounds. A photographers paradise with the lush landscape.
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