Francis Costigan Home-408 West Third Street-View 2

Architect; Costigan, Francis; Dwellings-Indiana

This home is situated on a narrow lot only 22 feet wide. It was built in 1850 by the famous architect, Francis Costigan, who had already built the Lanier Mansion and Shrewsbury House, two premiere homes in Madison. Historic Madison on its web page states, "The brick two-story house is Greek Revival in style and has a portico with two fluted columns capped with Corinthian capitals. The portico is heavily adorned and includes a sliding pocket door entry. The interior of the house has a magnificent drawing room thirty feet long with bow ends, twin fireplaces, and a fine, high ceiling with deep dressed panels, heavily ornamented with egg-and-dart moldings." The building has fine woodwork, including both carved and sliding doors and an interesting stepladder staircase with a push gate at the top. The dining room windows are of Venetian glass, giving some clue as to the financial success Costigan had become. Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of this house is Costigan's outstanding use of space. There have been improvements and changes in the home; for instance, in 1870 gas fixtures were introduced to the building but minimal change resulted and the home remains much the same as when it was first built. Innovation and imagination combined with Costigan's talent allowed him to perceive and execute such an elegant home in a limited space. Costigan moved to Indianapolis where he designed and built several commercial and residential buildings. Sadly, none of these have survived. The architect died in 1865. The building is now owned and preserved by Historic Madison, Inc., and is open to the public mid-April through October with limited hours.

Harry Lemen, photographer

Madison-Courier; Historic Madison, Inc.; Library Historical Files

Unknown

Madison-Jefferson County Public Library

Permission to reproduce this image for other than personal use must be requested from the Director of the Madison-Jefferson County Public Library. Please contact at 420 W. Main Street Madison, IN 47250 (812) 265-2744

Photograph taken with Eastman-Kodak Brownie Camera No. 2C model A, using No. 130 film. Resulting negative (2.875in x 4.875in) scanned at 1200 DPI using a Microtek ScanMaker 9800XL. Online jpeg image file saved at 72 DPI 800 to 1000 pixels on long edge.

Still image

"Lemen1062-costiganhome"