Just Think Of It!

Helena and I were talking about houses today and it occurred to me, as I mentioned to her that I had read recently that the house Kurt Vonnegut had grown up in was currently for sale, that I had planned on writing a blog about that and had not done so. So here it is:

Back in the September 19th issue of NUVO, David Hoppe had a very good column about the legacy of Kurt Vonnegut, during the course of which he talks about a house that is for sale on north Illinois Street, in the Butler-Tarkington area.

It’s the boyhood home of Kurt Vonnegut, at 4401 North Illinois Street (MLS #2721607, pictures of which can be found here), where he lived from birth until the age of seven. The house can be yours for a cool $989,000. But away with those checkbooks! The Hoppe article also talks about a committee (with which he is involved) that wants to create a Kurt Vonnegut Center here in Indianapolis - possible located in the Athenaeum building, which was built by Vonnegut’s father, who was a noted Indianapolis architect.

The first thing on the agenda for this group is the ambitious goal of rounding up donations to buy the Vonnegut house, with the idea of turning it into a place that puts on various programs for writers and such. I have to say that I like the sound of that. We can certainly do with more culture and literature around here...

I could see such a place being something on the order of the Thomas Hart Benton home in Kansas City, which I was fortunate enough to see when Amy and I went there with my parents to visit my brother a couple of years ago - although that does not seem to be the plan. Whatever happens to it - if this thing gets off the ground, it will make a delightful addition to Indianapolis.