Century of Progress Home Tour 2021

1215 N. State Road 49,Porter IN 46304

25 September, 2021

Description

Check out the first floor of the Cypress, Florida Tropical, House of Tomorrow, and Rostone houses during the Century of Progress Home tour. NOTE: Commemorative t-shirts sales are available now. Tickets for the Home Tour will go on sale August 2 at 9 a.m. EASTERN Time. Developer Robert Bartlett brought a dozen buildings from the fair to Indiana, including five from the Homes and Industrial Arts housing exhibit that make up the Century of Progress Historic District. The buildings were moved by barge and truck to Beverly Shores, a resort community he was developing on the Indiana shore of Lake Michigan. You can visit the cluster of five landmarks on the annual Century of Progress home tour on September 25 and 26, sponsored by Indiana Landmarks in partnership with the National Park Service. The tour admits you to the first floor of the Cypress, Florida Tropical, House of Tomorrow, and Rostone houses. As you can tell by their names, the houses at the fair promoted products for residential living—Florida’s beachy appeal, and artificial stone and cypress wood as building materials. Four of the five houses looked wildly modern in 1933, so ahead of their time that they remain modern looking today. The Cypress House, honoring its material, looks like a rustic log cabin, albeit with modern amenities. To save the structures, Indiana Landmarks leased them from the National Park Service, then subleased four to people who have restored them in exchange for long-term leases. You’ll also see the House of Tomorrow (declared a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation) in its pre-restored state, secured from the elements.