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Home Tour Showcases 13 Indiana Dunes Landmarks

Indiana Landmarks’ annual Logs to Lustrons Tour features restored residences not normally open to the public and vacant buildings in need of a new use.

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 on May 4 in Indiana Dunes National Park will satisfy your interest.

The Logs to Lustrons Tour features 13 landmark sites spanning over a century of architecture, including restored residences not normally open to the public and vacant buildings in need of a new use. Eight interiors will be open for the tour, sponsored by Indiana Landmarks and Indiana Dunes National Park.

For those who want a deeper understanding, there’s an illustrated talk, “Logs, Glass & Metal: A Century of Architectural Legacy” at 6:30 p.m., May 3. Speakers include: Todd Zeiger, Director of Indiana Landmarks’ Northern Regional Office; Cliff Goins, Indiana Dunes National Park Special Events Manager; and Laurie and Steve Snell, restorers of the Jacob Lustron, a site on the May 4 tour.

The May 4 tour includes two Swedish landmarks: the Gust Lindstrom Site and its World War I-era Wahl Barn, which has been restored and repurposed as an environmental preschool and the restored Oscar and Irene Nelson House and outbuildings.

Moving into the twentieth century, the tour takes you to U.S. Steel’s Good Fellow Lodge, the centerpiece of a youth camp overlooking the Little Calumet River that the company maintained from 1941 to 1976 for employees’ children. A new addition to this year’s tour offerings is the Read Dunes House, a mid-century residence designed in 1952 by architect Herbert P. Read for his parents Phil Benham Read and Irene Martin Read, early advocates for the dunes’ preservation. You’ll also tour architect-designed International-style houses—Meyer House and Solomon Enclave—and two prefabricated post-World War II enameled steel Lustron houses (a photo of the Snell Lustron is attached).

Children on the tour can earn a Junior Ranger Badge by completing drawings of sites on the tour in a booklet supplied by the National Park. Hands-on programs will be presented at several sites, including log construction at Bailly/Chellberg Contact Station and brick making at the Oscar and Irene Nelson site.

The Indiana Dunes National Park 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 advocate for a long-term solution for four of the tour’s historic structures.

Logs, Glass & Metal: A Century of Architectural Legacy Talk

WHAT: Reception with light snacks, talk and Q&A session

WHEN: May 3, 6:30-9 p.m. Central time

WHERE: Indiana Dunes National Park’s Portage Lakefront Pavilion

COST: $10 per person ($5 for Indiana Landmarks members). Children 16 and under are welcome and free, but must have a ticket. Buy tickets online at logstolustronstalk19.eventbrite.com by calling 800-450-4534.

WHO: Sponsored by Indiana Landmarks and the National Park Service

Logs to Lustrons Tour

WHAT: Tour featuring 13 sites showcasing architecture spanning a century

WHEN: May 4 with tours leaving every 15 minutes from 8:30 a.m. until 2 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, with guides at each site.

WHERE: Shuttles depart from the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center, 1215 N State Road 49 in Porter, Ind. No parking is available at the tour sites. All guests must use the shuttles from the Visitor Center.
COST: $30 per person ($25 for Indiana Landmarks members). Children 16 and under are welcome and free, but must have a ticket. Timed-entry tickets are available online at logstolustronstour19.eventbrite.com or by calling 800-450-4534.

WHO: Sponsored by Indiana Landmarks and Indiana Dunes National Park (IDNP)

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

Bruce Rowe, Public Information Officer, Indiana Dunes National Park, 219-395-1609, bruce_rowe@nps.gov

Jen Thomas, JTPR, Inc., Jen@jtprinc.com

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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. For more information on the not-for-profit organization, call 317-639-4534, 800-450-4534, or visit www.indianalandmarks.org.

Indiana Dunes National Park 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.

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