Squankum House 1880

Squankum House 1880 Restoring and renovating an 1880 farmhouse in Hendricks County, Indiana

Upward towards the next section...
09/05/2026

Upward towards the next section...

This corner has looked like this ever since we bought the house. It hasn’t moved an inch in the past eight years, so we’...
08/03/2026

This corner has looked like this ever since we bought the house. It hasn’t moved an inch in the past eight years, so we’ve never been overly concerned about it.

Our first floor is constructed with a three-wythe brick wall, meaning it consists of three layers (or “wythes”) of brick laid together to form a single structural wall. When we looked at this same area from inside the crawl space, the innermost wythe was still solid and firmly in place. This led us to suspect that the failure was isolated to this specific place on the exterior wythe rather than the entire wall or a failing foundation.

When we began excavating the area, we discovered that several corner bricks had lost their mortar joints completely and were simply sliding out of position. Underneath these, the foundation was solid. This created a domino effect, allowing the bricks above to gradually lose support and pull away from the wall.

After removing the failing bricks, we confirmed that the interior wythe remained solidly intact as well. Our suspicions were correct: at some point in the past, this corner likely failed to drain properly. Repeated freeze/thaw cycles then chewed through the mortar joints in the exterior wythe.

As we removed the bricks, we found that many were no longer held together by mortar, but by a matrix of straight mud and debris that had filled the empty joints over time!

So, we mixed up some lime mortar and began rebuilding the exterior wythe. First-time masons here, so any professional masons looking at this—close your eyes. But we don’t think it turned out too badly! It’s square, level, and toothed in nicely with the surrounding brickwork. And yes --- proper drainage will be put back!

Can you spot the difference in the brick down by the ground? Now imagine the whole facade cleaned and repointed. It real...
07/24/2026

Can you spot the difference in the brick down by the ground? Now imagine the whole facade cleaned and repointed. It really brings the brick back out!

Tent is covering a corner we are rebuilding. After this level is finished the courses above should progress much quicker because they are nowhere near as damaged as the courses at ground level.

Getting better at this
07/19/2026

Getting better at this

Removing the last vestige of the 1930s concrete porch, out popped an old piece of brown glass. And it had just the right...
06/21/2026

Removing the last vestige of the 1930s concrete porch, out popped an old piece of brown glass. And it had just the right amount of information on it for us to identify!

A beer bottle from the Indianapolis Brewing Company, likely dating to c. 1900 - 1915. This was under the footprint of the original porch, so we can only assume that porch was the perfect location to drink beer and watch corn grow in the early 1900s 🍻

Short histories of the Indianapolis Brewing Company:

https://indyencyclopedia.org/indianapolis-brewing-company/

https://historicindianapolis.com/indianapolis-brewing-company/

If you drive by don't mind this shack. It' climate control! Lime mortar can't dry too fast or it fails. The first sectio...
06/19/2026

If you drive by don't mind this shack. It' climate control! Lime mortar can't dry too fast or it fails.

The first section finished can be seen to the left of said shack.

Repointing is an art. And I'm not quite an artist yet. Close up pictures will come once I am 🤣

Woohoo! Next step is the National Register once a little more restoration happens!
06/18/2026

Woohoo! Next step is the National Register once a little more restoration happens!

We don't usually post about the hodgepodge of antiques we collect, but this one is special!This came from the estate of ...
05/23/2026

We don't usually post about the hodgepodge of antiques we collect, but this one is special!

This came from the estate of Dr. Elizabeth Brand Monroe, one of my history professors who passed away earlier this year. It was a part of a collection of late 19th century/early 20th century French furniture she had inherited.

Liz had a long and successful career in historic preservation and public history, and served for a time as my faculty advisor during my graduate work. She came by the house once, too, and was a big fan. My only regret is that I got to know her towards the very end of her career.

She was always so kind, gracious, and a great conversationalist. Although our relationship was a short one, she definitely fueled my passion for history and historic preservation even more. I think a fitting tribute will be to use it as a book case for my collection of local histories and reference materials.

Read her obituary here: https://www.indystar.com/obituaries/psbn1402441

An upstairs room, just about completely done!We originally tried to refinish the poplar trim and pine floors in the hous...
05/22/2026

An upstairs room, just about completely done!

We originally tried to refinish the poplar trim and pine floors in the house. These were wood species that were really never meant to be bare, but we gave it a shot. Never quite looked right.

So we went back to paint, which would have been the original finish when the house was built (it's a massive misconception that wood in historic homes was always unpainted). You learn as you go. We love it!

Some photos of the room 2018 - 2026 at various stages

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Brownsburg, IN
46112

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