Cottage Home Historic District

The Cottage Home Historic District is a historic district and neighborhood located on the near east side of Indianapolis, Indiana. A small portion of Cottage Home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places while a larger area is listed on the state and local levels. Known for its preponderance of "cottage-style" homes built with strong Victorian influences, Cottage Home has historically been a working class neighborhood. Numerous industrial buildings are also scattered throughout the district, providing a base of economic activity. Today, however, many of these buildings are vacant, providing a special challenge to preservation and urban renewal efforts.After a period of urban decay in the 1960s and '70s, common to inner city neighborhoods in Indianapolis, Cottage Home has since stemmed the loss of historic buildings and is now home to a flourishing and diverse community. Key to the area's improvement was the establishment of the Cottage Home Neighborhood Association in 1984, whose efforts halted the razing of residential properties by local businesses, and a renewed interest in restoring the area's homes. The Ruskaup-Ratcliffe house and store are the most architecturally significant buildings in the district, anchoring the district's addition to the National Register in 1990. Cottage Home was further expanded to its largest bounds at the state level in 1995 and local designation of the Ruskaup-Ratcliffe house and store followed. In 2008, the state bounds, encompassing 320 parcels and 292 properties, were designated as a Conservation District by the Indianapolis Historic Preservation Commission.