1859 A Heritage House

Back in 2004 in pursuit of the almighty dollar I bought a 3000 square foot house in Orland, IN that was built in 1859. The intention was to flip it, working on it over the winter with my partners, maybe make a few bucks we had bought a house the year before and flipped it at a modest profit. Seven years later we still own it and are trying once again to sell it.



The house has a rich history. It was built by Governor Luce of Michigan (3 miles N) for his daughter to live in, the family had a dry goods store and other businesses in Orland. The grand old two story has a Michigan basement (part dirt/half finished), a maids staircase, a lovely foyer, marble fireplace and stellar mill work. We are the third "family" to own the home since several generations of the previous owners lived there.


We believe that the home may have been part of the underground railroad that was prolific in Orland during the civil war. The underground railroad provided assistance to southern, black slaves seeking freedom via Orland into Canada. A recent article in our local newspaper elaborates on this well known connection (kpcnews.com Orland touring through history Oct.19, 2011) .



The reason we think our home was involved with the UG is because of what we found under the kitchen floor. When we renovated we removed all the paint, paper and flooring in all the rooms, it was a daunting task. After several layers in the downstairs kitchen we reached a trapdoor with a hollowed out earthen nest large enough to accommodate two or three people. It was precisely cut into the floorboards and you could see the outline of floor rug that once hid the opening in the pine floor.

Any of you cats out there following this blog are welcome to my Open House this Saturday and Sunday from 1-5 pm, in Orland, IN and if you are in the market for a house bring your checkbook and $ 98,000.00. If you need a place to rent the upstairs apartment is furnished and waiting (in photo's), it is a duplex, you can live in one unit (I pick the up) and rent the other.


RIP: Dee Gordan, you were a good woman & will be missed always.