NEWS
Farm Owners Honor Early Rural Heritage
Monroe County farmers win the 2026 John Arnold Award for Rural Preservation
Rooted in History
For more than two centuries, rolling hills and woods in Monroe County have served as the heart of a family farm, where a farmhouse and double-crib log barn from its earliest period still shape the landscape. For preserving the farm and incorporating its landmarks into modern operations, Jeff Lucas and Anne Fields Lucas received the 2026 John Arnold Award for Rural Preservation from Indiana Landmarks and Indiana Farm Bureau, honoring the family’s stewardship of the historic Tate-Tatum Farm south of Bloomington.
John and Susanna Tate established the farm in 1822, and several historic buildings dating from their ownership remain on the property. The farm stayed in the Tate family for generations before Jeff Lucas and Anne Fields Lucas purchased it in 2015 and began adapting it for modern agricultural operations and as an event venue called Whippoorwill Hill.
Jeff and Anne first spotted the property’s vintage for-sale sign while traveling to Rural King and decided to check it out. Despite being overgrown and in need of care, the farm’s early structures and landscape captivated the couple, whose desire to keep the land as a farm helped convince its owners to accept their offer.
Since purchasing the Tate-Tatum Farm in 2015, the Lucas family has worked to preserve its historic character, including a major rehabilitation of the 1822 Tate-Tatum Farmhouse. PHOTOS: Courtesy Lucas Family and Corrin Hunt Photography
Respect for the property’s history inspired the Lucases to restore its landmarks, including the 1822 double-crib log barn. In 2024, they undertook a major rehabilitation of the 1822 Tate-Tatum Farmhouse, repairing windows and original wooden siding, upgrading plumbing and electrical systems, adding an accessible entrance, and incorporating salvaged historic architectural features into a modern farmhouse design. Today, the house serves as a preparation and gathering space during event season and as a short-term rental in the winter.
The family adapted the farm’s historic outbuildings for continued use, converting its double-seater outhouse as a run-in shelter for the farm’s pony and donkey, and reusing garages as a chicken coop and farm storage. To honor the farm’s heritage, the Lucases successfully nominated it to the National Register of Historic Places.
In 2016, when planning their wedding, Jeff and Anne began envisioning how they might hold the ceremony at the farm, but they were reluctant to build a new structure. A cousin alerted them that owners of the 1892 Russell Barn in Shelby County, Indiana, wanted to remove the vacant and collapsing structure. After dismantling and cataloguing the barn, the Lucases oversaw its reconstruction on the Tate-Tatum Farm, holding their wedding in the construction zone.
In adapting the barn, they preserved as much original material as possible while turning it into a modern event venue with a commercial kitchen, accessible restrooms, and exterior porches. Today, the transverse-frame barn hosts weddings, reunions, meetings, and other events. The income generated supports ongoing maintenance and preservation of the farm’s historic buildings.
“It would have felt disrespectful to the farm to build something new,” says Anne Lucas. “While we could have put up something bigger and fancier, this feels like it could be the graduation of the historic buildings already at the farm.”
Today, the Tate-Tatum Farm spans 156 acres encompassing farmstead, pastureland, woods, cropland, and hay ground that feeds the Lucases’ small herd of Angus/Charolais beef cattle and three horses.
Their interest in the property’s history also led them to uncover and preserve three-quarters of a mile of historic Monon Railroad bed that runs through the farm, now used as a walking and horseback riding trail leading to the former Hays Grocery, a 1913 general store that Anne’s parents Rudy and Kay Fields restored as a small lodging and gathering space.
“Jeff and Anne Lucas’s stewardship of the Tate-Tatum Farm reflects their desire to honor the farm’s history while making it economically sustainable for the future, intentionally preserving its historic buildings and adapting them for continued use in a way that reflects the spirit of the Arnold Award,” says Tommy Kleckner, director of Indiana Landmarks’ Western Regional Office and Arnold Award coordinator.
“It feels redeeming to have the hard work we’ve put into the farm in the past ten years seen and appreciated at this level,” says Anne Fields Lucas. “This is an honor for not just us personally, but the farm itself and the folks who lived here, as well as a nod to Monroe County having an asset like this.”
Indiana Landmarks and Indiana Farm Bureau presented the Lucases with the Arnold Award on August 13 at the Indiana State Fair. The annual award is named in memory of John Arnold (1955-1991), a Rush County farmer committed to preserving Indiana’s rural heritage.
This article first appeared in the September/October 2026 issue of Indiana Preservation, Indiana Landmarks’ member magazine.
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