INDIANAPOLIS — In continuation of the longest running show house event in the country, St. Margaret’s Hospital Guild are excited to open the doors on April 23 to the Rhodehamel House, 5320 N. Meridian. Nineteen design firms and four landscape firms have reimagined and transformed this year’s Decorators’ Show House and Gardens. After touring the Rhodehamel House, Maggie’s Hoosier Marketplace and Flower Shop will be open for shopping.
The doors will be opened to the public from April 23 to May 8. Hours will be Tuesday-Sunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Thursday 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Adult tickets are $30 with proceeds going to support Eskenazi Health Behavioral Health Academy. Group rates are available. Tickets must be purchased in advance. Tickets are non-refundable. A limited number of VIP tickets are available for those who would like to meet the designers on May 2 from 10 a.m.-noon. Tickets are available online only and must be purchased in advance at showhouseindy.org
The residence at 5320 North Meridian Street is located within the boundaries of several respected community organizations. They include the Butler-Tarkington Neighborhood Association, Meridian Street Preservation Commission, Meridian Street Foundation, and Midtown Indy. The architect who designed the residence and oversaw its construction was Charles Russell Federman. Mr. Federman built many outstanding homes in the Butler-Tarkington, Meridian-Kessler, and Meridian Hills neighborhoods. Construction began in 1929, but the home’s first owners, the Rhodehamels, didn’t not purchase it until 1934. Shortly after the 1952 death of Harley Wesley Rhodehamel Sr., the Rhodehamels’ older son and his family moved into the residence with the widowed Mary. The combined years of the Rhodehamel family’s ownership was 53 years. It was the longest period of occupancy by a family in the home’s nine decades of existence.
The third owners of the property were James Edward Lingeman, M.D., and Rita (Nyeboer) Lingeman. ohn Edward Pless, M.D., (1938-2014) and Lois (Stevens) Pless became the fourth owners of the property in 1990. In 1999, Andrew J. Lynch, Ph.D., became the home’s fifth owner. The current owners of the home are Jamie Lee Bradbury, M.D., and Lori Elizabeth (Huffman) Bradbury, R.N.
The two-story brick Tudor home with slate roof, stone trim, and leaded glass windows was built on a lot measuring 100 feet by 297.5 feet, almost seven-tenths of an acre. The home contains 5,226 square feet on the main level, 2,283 square feet on the second level, 2,253 square feet in the basement, and 690 square feet in the attic, for a total enclosed living space of 10,452 square feet. The living room and library on the main level, as well as the recreation room on the lower level, all have fireplaces. Carved woodwork and arched doors convey both warmth and elegance. Each of the five bedrooms has its own full bath, plus there are half-baths on the main and lower levels. The residence also has an attached 3-car garage.
