The Council of Independent Colleges: Historic Campus Architecture Project

Kane House

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Institution Name: Wabash College
Original/Historic Place Name: Home of William Patterson Kane, President
Location on Campus: West Wabash Ave.
Date(s) of Construction:

1900	original construction Foltz, Herbert W.

Designer: Herbert W. Folz, Indianapolis
Type of Place: Individual building
Style: Beaux-Arts classicism, Colonial revival (Glossary)
Significance: architecture, education, history
Narrative: see below
References: see below

Materials:

Foundation: stone

Walls: brick

Roof: asphalt shingle

Function:

ca. 1900	president's house
ca. 2004-present (2006)	administration (Offices of Public Information and College Advancement)

Narrative:
Kane House was the first structure built specifically to house the president of the college; its first occupant was President William P. Kane, who was inaugurated in 1900. It faces away from the College Mall, but is not separated by a street from the main campus. The spacious center hall plan on both floors remains. Our records do not show how many rooms there were originally, but possibly six on each floor.

Only two presidents actually lived in the house. Over the years it has housed a fraternity and, more recently, the offices for College Advancement and Public Information.

References:

Montgomery County Interim Report. Indianapolis, IN: Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, 1986.

Larson, Jens Frederick, and Archie MacInnes Palmer. Architectural Planning of the American College. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1933.

Osborne, James I., and Theodore G. Gronert. Wabash College: The First Hundred Years, 1832-1932. Crawfordsville, IN: Wabash College, 1932.