For those looking at the elegant façade of the Beaux Arts mansion, Ruthmere, it would seem that time has not passed in the 95 years since the house was built. Lived in by the same family until it was opened to the public in 1973, Ruthmere and its grounds are a must see.

The three story home, made with Belden bricks from Ohio and Indiana limestone, its windows accented by gaily striped awnings, its elaborate entranceway flanked with brick pillars and topped with carved limestone capitals, belonged to Albert R. and Elizabeth Baldwin Beardsley.

The story of Ruthmere, now on the National Register of Historic Places, and the Beardsley family, is part of the history of Elkhart, Indiana where the home sits, one of many beautifully preserved homes along a sweeping road that curves with the flow of the St. Joseph River and is just a short walk from the pretty downtown.

Both inside and out, the mansion, filled with the treasures of the owners, panelled in glossy highly polished mahogany, decorated with interior murals, reverse painted windows, stencilled and hand-painted ceilings and intricately patterned wallpaper and dotted with stained glass windows, is seemingly as resplendent as when, the original owners, lived there.

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