Whether you’re captivated by rustic log cabins, love Victorian-era houses, or you’re mad for Mid-Century Modern, the Logs to Lustrons Tour in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore will satisfy your interest. The tour, first offered last year, will be held May 13.

The Logs to Lustrons Tour sponsored by Indiana Landmarks and the National Park Service features a dozen landmarks spanning over a century of architecture, including restored residences not normally open to the public and vacant landmarks in need of a new use. Eight interiors will be open for the tour.

For those who want a deeper immersion in the subject, the sponsors offer an illustrated talk, “Logs, Glass & Metal: A Century of Architectural Legacy” on the evening of May 12 preceding the tour. Speakers include: Todd Zeiger, Director, Indiana Landmarks’ Northern Regional Office; Judith Collins, Historical Architect, and Cliff Goins, Special Events Manager, both of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

The May 13 tour includes the Bailly Homestead, a National Historic Landmark that dates back to 1822, when fur trapper Honore Gratien Joseph Bailly de Messein established a trading post. The site includes a collection of 19th century log and brick structures built by Bailly and his descendants.

Tour-goers will visit two Swedish landmarks, the Gust Lindstrom Site–restored and repurposed as an environmental education preschool—and the restored Oscar and Irene Nelson Site. Moving forward several decades, two Lustrons—prefabricated enameled steel houses—represent an enterprising response to solving the post-World War II housing crisis.

The tour also includes the House of Tomorrow, displayed at the 1933-34 Chicago World’s Fair and brought by barge to the Indiana Dunes after the fair. Declared a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the endangered house will soon be restored by Indiana Landmarks. Architect-designed mid-century houses are also featured on the tour.

The timed-entry tour is $30 per person ($25 for Indiana Landmarks members) and includes shuttle transportation. Reservations may be made at logstolustronstour17.eventbrite.com or by calling 800-450-4534.

The talk, “Logs, Glass & Metal: A Century of Architectural Legacy,” takes place at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore’s Portage Lakefront Pavilion, 1000 Riverwalk Drive, Portage, beginning at 7 p.m. CT, with a reception and light refreshments. The talk runs from 7:30-8:30 p.m., followed by more refreshments and Q&A session that concludes at 9 p.m. Tickets for the talk are $35 per person ($30 for Indiana Landmarks members), which includes admission to the tour on Saturday, May 13.

The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore was established in 1966, after which the National Park Service acquired the historic structures within the park boundaries, including the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair Century of Progress homes, the Swedish landmarks, and others. Indiana Landmarks is working with the National Park Service to determine a long-term solution for four of the tour’s historic structures.

To save the five Century of Progress houses and several other places on the tour, Indiana Landmarks leased the structures from the National Park Service and subleased them to people who have rehabilitated them.

WHAT: Logs to Lustrons Tour, showcases 12 sites spanning over a century of architecture in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

WHEN: May 13 with tours leaving every 15 minutes from 8:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., Central Time. The tour lasts approximately two hours. Visitors take the tour at their own pace, visiting or skipping sites as they choose. The “Logs, Glass & Metal: A Century of Architectural Legacy” talk takes place on the evening of May 12.

WHERE: Tour shuttles depart from the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center, 1215 N State Road 49 in Porter. No parking is available at the tour sites. All guests must use the shuttles from the Visitor Center.

WHO: Sponsored by Indiana Landmarks and the National Park Service

COST: $30 per person ($25 for Indiana Landmarks members). Timed-entry tickets are available online at logstolustronstour17.eventbrite.com or by calling 800-450-4534. Buy a ticket to the “Logs, Glass & Metal: A Century of Architectural Legacy” talk on May 12 at $35 per person ($30 per Indiana Landmarks member) and get a ticket to the tour on May 13.

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Media contact: Todd Zeiger, Director, Indiana Landmarks’ Northern Regional Office, 574-232-4534, tzeiger@indianalandmarks.org.

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Indiana Landmarks revitalizes communities, reconnects us to our heritage, and saves meaningful places. With nine offices located throughout the state, Indiana Landmarks helps people rescue endangered landmarks and restore historic neighborhoods and downtowns. People who join Indiana Landmarks receive its bimonthly magazine, Indiana Preservation. Learn more.

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is one of 417 units of the National Park System ranging from Yellowstone to the Statue of Liberty. Located in Northwest Indiana, the park includes 15 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and 15,000 acres of biodiverse beaches, woods, prairies, and marshes. Up to 2 million visitors come to the Indiana Dunes each year. For more information go to www.nps.gov/indu