The Benton House is one of the most historic houses in Indianapolis. Located at 312 South Downey Avenue, in the historic Irvington neighborhood, the two-story, Second Empire-style brick dwelling with a mansard roof was built in 1873 and was the home of Allen R. Benton, a two-time president of Butler University. The 10-room house sits on a stone foundation and features an entrance tower, ornate windows, fine woodwork and oak floors. It is the only house on Indianapolis' East Side that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (1973) that is open to the public. However, despite the house's impressive history and trappings, what attracts most visitors to the property are the unique gardens with their display of pre-1900 heirloom plants, thousands of daffodils, including some hybridized between 1977 and 1897 that are in bloom in early April of each year. Other spring bloomers include ground-hugging species tulips: T. biflora (1776), T. humilis (1860), T. marjoletti (1894) and T. turkestanica (1875). Walking the grounds offers visitors an opportunity to see what amounts to a botanical display garden or fernery or greenhouse that also features as crocus, snowdrops, peony, poppies, blue bells, wild ginger, cultivars, Tiger Lilys and other flowers, some first brought to this country during the colonial period. If you enjoyed the gardens at Garfield Park, the Lilly House, White River State Park or the Indianapolis Museum of Art, you owe it to yourself to visit the Benton House.