Old World Grandeur and New Ideas for New Albany, Indiana

I have lived in New Albany, Indiana since 2002, but it wasn't until January of 2014 that I discovered a true, understated treasure in Culbertson Mansion, 914 East Main Street, New Albany, IN. I was told numerous times by my New Albany neighbors to visit the Mansion, but as I was knee deep in my own restoration project on my 90 year old bungalow I never seems to have time to view the property.

Last year my friend Lynn Bradley and I were attending an arts and music event near the mansion and I mentioned that we should walk across the street and view the property. Being as it was the weekend the mansion was not open. We looked at the exterior and read the historical plaques that were outside the property for more information on the home. Since I am an avid gardener we both commented on how sparse the landscaping was and that the grounds could really use some work to make the site more attractive to visitors traveling along Main Street in New Albany.

Last month as I was making some plans for 2014 I placed visit Culbertson Mansion on my list of things I wanted to accomplish this year. On January 14 I rang the doorbell of the Mansion and waited with anticipation as to what I might see in this 19^th Century home built in 1867 for William S. Culbertson for $120,000 by builders James and William Banes.

I was greeted at the door by a beautiful and very knowledgeable lady who said her name was Jan. After a few pleasantries Jan began the tour right there on the first floor. The home as you can imagine has had several owners since Mr. Culbertson and his family moved there in 1869. Since 1976 the Indiana Department of Natural Resources' Division of Museums and Historic Sites has owned the property, they have been renovating the home since 1979.

Jan explained that the Mansion has 20,000 square feet and contains 25 rooms on three floors with a basement. The first floor has been completely renovated and is comprised of a formal parlor and dining room, library, foyer and grand staircase. This first floor is the “public” face of the Mansion and has to be seen to believed the detail of this floor is truly incredible!

The second floor is where the family lived and includes a morning sitting room, a sewing room, a private family parlor and bedrooms. While I was there Jan and I were treated to a natural “light” show by the mid-morning sunshine. The Mansion has a four, color pane window on the third floor; while we were talking about the contents of the second floor the sun was putting on a beautiful kaleidoscopic light show of colors circling around the main hallway of the second floor.

While the first floor has been completely renovated some of the ceilings on the second floor are still in the process of being transformed to their original design. In fact, Jan mentioned that the site is constantly being renovated room by room and the details of how they are doing this are depicted in the basement of the property.

The third floor is under renovation but you can still view the children's bedrooms, storage areas and grand ballroom and well as the servants bedrooms which are located on the west side of the mansion. For a 20,000 square foot home the only original bathroom in the house is located on the servant's side of the third floor.

While the interior of the Mansion is quite impressive, the landscaping of the property leaves something to be desired especially from the Main Street entrance. I'm preparing a proposal to the Culbertson Mansion Board of Directors to enhance the “curb” appeal of the property by planting blue and purple lavender up the two serpentine sidewalks that lead to the Mansion's front steps. There is a large concrete urn that stands approximately five feet high in the center of the front yard which I hope to plant mixed Dahlias of various colors. Directly in front of the Mansion’s front steps I would place purple and blue Cat Mint which would produce an aroma and attract butterflies and hummingbirds.

The right-side of the Mansion has plants and shrubs contained in it but the left-side as far as I can tell has only a few Liriope in it. I propose planting two Rhododendrons next to the windows in the left-side garden next to the Mansion; these plants will add winter color to the property and maintain floral symmetry with the right-side garden. In addition, I'm proposing erecting a trellis in the left-side garden, growing up the trellis would be two large flowering Clematis (purple/blue). Additional plants of various sizes would be planted in the left-side garden to attract the passerby to the home.

Next to the home at the front door entrance stands two (2) smaller urns, in those I’d propose planting red and white fragrant Begonias. Finally the Mansion has a second floor landing which would be an excellent place to attract the driving public passing by on Main Street with a combination of red begonias and green and white Alocasia or “Elephants Ears”.

I will be making my proposal to the Culbertson Mansion Board on March 4, after which the proposal will be sent to Indianapolis for official approval. Should I get the project I'll keep you informed of the details of the project in a later blog post. Should you wish to learn more about Culbertson Mansion please visit their website at http://www.indianamuseum.org/explore/culbertson. Thanks for reading and

remember that your comments are welcome. Until next time this is Jer saying “keep the faith”!

One Step at a Time--The Josh Bleill Story

Recently my friend Lynn Bradley and I attended a fellowship event at Northside Christian Church, New Albany, Indiana entitled “Cabin Fever Jamboree”. It was billed as a wild game tasting event and meal along with a guest speaker Mr. Josh Bleill from the Indianapolis Colts. Being a life-long Green Bay Packers fan I of course wore my favorite colors green and gold. The game food was excellent: deer, buffalo, elk, dolphin, gator etc. and the portions were huge, the speaker superb!



Mr Bleill is a young man from Indianapolis who was working for Conseco Insurance Company in Indianapolis as a recruiter when the United States was attacked on September 11, 2001. Those events had a tremendous impact on him and seeing as his father served our country as a United States Marine, Josh decided to fellow in his father’s footsteps.  While on combat patrol in Fallujah, Iraq on October 15, 2006 Josh and four of his comrads where driving their Humvee through an Iraq roadside market, his friend sitting next to him was pointing to the sheep being slaughtered in the marketplace. They turned off the road and into the median of the highway to travel the opposite direction when suddening an IED (bomb) exploded killing Josh’s Sergeant and a Lance Corporal. The blast blew their gunner clear out of the vehicle and he lost a leg, the driver survived without a scratch, but Josh Bleill woke up five days later to the realization that not only did he lose two of his comrads but also both of his legs.



As one can imagine the realization and recovery from such an experience was very painful physically, mentally and spiritually. For three and one half months Josh never left the hospital because he was ashamed of how he looked. Josh was a big man six feet two inches before the accident but now with both his legs removed he was four feet nothing. He struggled to come to grips with what had happened to him on that highway in Fallujah, Iraq. Hadn’t God called him to serve his country as his father did before him after September 11^th? How could he serve the Lord now in this condition much less make a life for himself with not one but two legs gone? Josh was always a big hunter and enjoyed the marksmanship required of a military man. He was a confident man not willing to back down from any type of challenge, but how could he face this? He couldn’t even stand to face the stares of the people he meet in the hospital let alone those outside of the facility who would instantly notice that he was now much less a man than he once was.



As God would have it Josh’s hometown team, the Indianapolis Colts were playing the Chicago Bears that year in the Super Bowl. Josh was invited to see the game and this time his love for his “Colts” overcame his fear of people looking at him in public. Later while recovering from his wounds in Walter Reed Military Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland some of the Indianapolis Colts came to call on the wounded there. Josh got to talk with some of the players and hear their triumphant stories about winning the Super Bowl and the Colts got to hear about Josh’s trial in Iraq and comeback battle with prosthetic legs. During this visit, Jim Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts learned that Josh was from Indianapolis and went to visit him. While their Mr. Irsay learned that both he and Josh used to attend the same gym in Carmel, Indiana, he told Josh to “Come see me about a job when you get home”.


Two years later after intensive rehabilitation where Josh was first given two stumps to practice walking on Josh recovered from his injuries in Iraq and went home to Indianapolis. After visiting some of his old Indy buddies he went off to see Jim Irsay to ask about a job with the Indianapolis Colts. Today Josh is a community spokesmen for the Colts, does numerous personal appearance like the one Lynn and I attended at Northside Church, is the author of a book One Step at a Time: a Young Marine’s Story of Courage, Hope and a New Life in the NFL (Triumph Books, 2010).
 

You can learn more about Josh by going to
http://www.colts.com/fanzone/josh-bliel-one-step-at-a-time.html
or view him below and on Youtube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqmqGUjWhzg.


Now most of us thankfully didn’t have to overcome such a tremendous challenge as Josh did, but we all have crosses to bear in our lives, what was one of yours? Would you be willing to share it with me and my readers? If so, please let me hear from you. If you don’t wish to share your story but would like to send along a comment please do. Thanks again for reading and until next time “Keep the Faith”, Jer