Over the years I've written about wedding venues so often that you might think I'm moonlighting as an event planner. Venues are fun to feature because they usually have pretty gardens and a party barn next to a neat old house. Marian Hills Farm has the barn and gardens next to a neat old house... next to an even neater and older house. The farm was also featured during Season 20 of ABC's show The Bachelor.
It's also noteworthy for housing seven generations of the Nathan Coleman (1797-1833?) family.
The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but only mentioned for its significant buildings. There's no specifying details about corbels or other fun stuff. (But I found some fun stuff.)
The older of the two houses was built in 1835, five years before the city's official incorporation--and two years after its builder died, depending on which record you find.
Nathan built it from
bricks he made and fired from the nearby muddy creek bank, replacing his circa 1827 log
cabin.
Now it's considered the third oldest "working" home in Fort Wayne.
It has 2 bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms.
Judging by the Marian Hills Farm's
site, this house was used for wedding party prep.
The second house was built in 1910 by one of Nathan Coleman's great grandsons. Not sure where he sourced his bricks.
It's more formal than the 1835 house, and likely always was.
If it were mine, I'd make it a little less formal and a little more farm, like this:
{source unknown}
Feeling proud of myself that I photoshopped in the fireplace instead of using AI. Imaging it old style!
The house has five bedrooms and two bathrooms in 1,648 square feet.
There's also an upstairs kitchen, a definite bonus for an event venue location.
It's all on 22.5 acres. 7.25 of it is currently being farmed, but they're not using the barn for crops.
This is where The Bachelor comes in. 2016's bachelor was Warsaw, Indiana native Ben Higgins.
He and three contestants spent a
day (one episode) on the farm on a "group date with hay rides, kite flying and row boats."
The bachelor didn't tie the knot here, which is a bit of a plot twist, I guess.
The barn was built by Nathan Coleman's grandson Henry Doctor in 1881,
apparently with money earned by serving as a conscript in the Civil War.
This legacy property is quite a find: Two historic houses, a party barn and garden, and great stories.
The listing is
here. An adjoining house is also on the market,
here, increasing the property's potential even more.
P.S. I'm working hard on Monet's studio in miniature. A new video should be up soon!
