When Courtenay Macomber arrived on the local architectural scene in the 1950s, his artistic, innovative designs were incorporated into some of the city’s major structural feats, from the City-County Building to Indy’s first drive-through bank (then known as the Zipper Building and now home to Fogo de Chao). His involvement with these projects inspired the floor-to-ceiling glass panels used in his own midcentury-modern house in Pike Township, which sits starkly juxtaposed against 18 acres of sprawling wooded grounds.
Built in 1961, the 2,864-square-foot limestone-brick estate with four bedrooms and two baths draws from Macomber’s fascination with the famous architect Le Corbusier and his modular approach to design. Le Corbusier used a proportioning system to maintain a human scale in architecture, which Macomber interpreted with narrow hallways and rooms that vary in height. His son, Courtenay Macomber Jr., says his childhood home drew a lot of attention for its rectilinear lines and unadorned exterior. “People were always coming out to see it,” he says. “No one could figure out what it was. It’s still one of the craziest-looking things.” Regardless of the gawkers it attracted, the designer remained at his one-of-a-kind manor until his death in April 2013 at the age of 82. “He wouldn’t live anywhere else,” Macomber Jr. says.
Want to Buy It?
Address: Upon Request
List price: $675,000
Agent: G.B. Landrigan, Landrigan & Company Realtors
Phone: 317-687-8888
Photos by Tony Valainis
This article appeared in the May 2014 issue.
