Amy Bartner|IndyStar
Downtown Cribs is an occasional feature that takes you on a tour of what's inside some ofDowntown Indy's most interesting homes. Know a prime pad to showcase? Email Downtown reporter Amy Bartner at amy.bartner@indystar.com.
Semiretired financial adviser Jerry B. Wade saw the mansion at 645 S. Meridian St. for sale in December 2014, and he knew he had something.
The sports, racing and film buff splits his time between a house in Minneapolisand astylish flat in Florida. He was looking for something similar in Indianapolis, where he grew up.
"I was originally looking at purchasing a condo," Wade said. "When I saw it online, I thought, 'Well, this looks interesting.' Then I came in, and, holy smokes, there'sno electricity in some rooms. There's gas lines coming out of the ceiling. But I had a vision. I saw what it could be."
About $350,000 in renovations later is theVilla on Meridian. Think completely renovated carriage house next to a historical, Victorian mansion with a twist: a modern steampunk penthouse. Each of the three units is available for rent.
Wade likes the industrial futuristic style of steampunk because, he said, "it bridges the old timesto the new times."
The design-style blend of historical elements and techno sci-fi accoutrementis evident in the penthouse.In the living room isaDarth Vader helmetsculpture with half of the exterior removed, revealing skeletal metal gears and wires. In the bathroom, a metal bra with similar styling.
Slanted metalfigures strummingguitars or playing football, sculptures on loan from Gallery Forty-Two, are on display throughout the house.
"I like steampunk, I like vintage, I like metal," Wade said.
An industrial-lookingscissor-lift-esqueconsole from Kittles with a '70s stereo pairs with a massiveTV mounted over a taupe suede couch from a past relationship — all under a sleek, bladeless chrome ceilingfan.
The same fixture is in the master bedroomover a picture of Jack Nicholson blowing a smoke ring under the quote: "I am who I am. Your approval isn't needed."
The penthouse has two bedrooms and two renovated bathrooms, with new fixtures and clawfoot tubs. The kitchen has new, sunken flooring, modern appliances and white cabinets, with pops of red from pans hanging above the counter.
Wade's sports memorabilia— autographed basketballs and other items— rim the kitchen atop the cabinets. Add a love of film to sports and steampunk, and Wade's penthouse decor is about covered.
The penthouse and the rest of the homewas built somewhere around 1890, replacing a smaller housebuilt in that location in about 1850. When the Victorian was constructed on the original plot, builders moved the older house back from the curb to become the carriage house.Thismakes it one of the oldest homes in the city.
When Wade bought the propertyfor $430,000, he began to fix it upin hopes of renting most of it out when he’s not living there.
Rewiring and repairing electricity throughout the 5,000 square-foot main house was a large part of the renovations, he said.
"Electricity is a big expense," he said."It's got great bones to start. The carriage house was taken down completely to the studs."
Look inside these other strangers'houses:
An 1840s Quaker farmhouse turned $1.2 million Westfield home
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"I knew I was only going to be in town maybe a week a month, so what an opportunity for me to own something but then rent it out the rest of the time," he said. "Iwas originally looking just to buy a condo, and all of a sudden I stumbled across this."
The main house is decorated fairly traditional and accurate to the period, but the carriage house has an aesthetic similar to the penthouse.
Back inside the penthouse, the 30-foot vaulted ceilings make for an atypically open feel for something that used to be an attic.
"I think what gives it the feel, even if we didn’t have the window, are the disparate lines that we have," he said. "The huge ceiling going way, way up. It goes in all these different directions."
But the shining feature is the half-circle window with a perfect view of the Downtown skyline.
"When Isaw this view, it basically brought a tear to my eye, and I said, 'Hey, this is the place,'" Wade said. "It is the only straight-line view of Monument Circle.I just fell in love. It’s probably the main reason I bought the property."
Wade rents out the penthouse for $395 a night, the main house for $795 a night and the carriage house for $395 a night, allavailable on vrbo.com.
Call IndyStar reporter Amy Bartner at (317) 444-6752. Follow her onFacebook,Twitter, andInstagram.
