Hometown Tourism: Lafayette, Indiana, Part 3
In this series of Hometown Tourism, I look at the gems right in our backyard! Since we cannot travel due to the global pandemic, but also wanting to get out of the house, my husband was able to find a compromise. He booked us a self-guided tour at the Haan Museum of Indiana Art on a Saturday in January 2021. The Hann Museum takes safety measures seriously and only allows 6 people to come visit every hour. There are only 2 docents on staff, so at most, there are only 8 people in the house at a time.
In addition to wearing a mask at all times, you cannot bring your belongings (purse) in with you, and you must carry your coat. My guess is that they want you to carry your coat so you’re not inclined to touch anything! There are strict social distancing guidelines, and they won’t even let you touch the doorknob to leave — you have to let a docent know you’re leaving so they can open the door for you. I was quite impressed, and I did not feel anxious at all here!
Okay, back to the main attraction! The house was originally built in Connecticut, then it was moved to St. Louis for a World Fair, and then it ended up in Lafayette, Indiana! The house was filled with beautifully made wood furniture and all kinds of art! There were tea cups, stained glass, paintings, and more! All of the artwork is done by local Indiana artists except for two walls of paintings by a gentleman in Texas which covered Native Americans and western scenes.
One thing we noticed were all of the clocks! There were so many of them! Clocks on the walls and grandfather clocks! One even has vials of mercury in it! We also noticed the 7 foot tall vase in the corner of one of the rooms!
Behind the mansion, there is a sculpture garden that we walked around, and a .9 mile nature trail that we decided to come back for on a warmer day. The sculpture garden and nature trail are open to the public for free during daylight hours.
I thoroughly enjoyed this museum and appreciated learning from the docents! I highly recommend you check out the Haan if you are in the area! Also, I appreciated how the museum followed strict social distancing guidelines. This is a beautiful mansion with so many beautiful works of art from Hoosier artists! It is quite a gem in our backyard!
*Unless noted, always assume that I have not been compensated by any place that I have reviewed in my blog posts.
