For writers, editors, and photographers who enjoy residential architecture and home and garden design, working at a city magazine is a good gig. Offering readers a peek inside beautiful homes is a mainstay of the business; we consider it one of the best perks of the job. It’s not uncommon for Creative Director Laura Mathis to share a preview of the Home of the Issue on her socials captioned, “My Office for the Day.” While we are preparing to photograph multiple properties this spring for upcoming issues, here we look back at 25 homes that stand the test of time.
WE’RE ALL ABOUT COLOR
1. MaryAnn Lingo and her late husband Dr. Max Lingo brought a signature bold look to their riverfront home (January/February 2019). “Most people don’t like this much color in their home, but we like color,” MaryAnn said. “I don’t do neutral.”
2. The story on Mary Beth and Michael Guard’s New Harmony, Indiana, loft (May/June 2024) was aptly titled, “House of Hues.” “The color of the glass tile in the kitchen is the same color we used for our wedding nearly 46 years ago,” Mary Beth, who owns Capers Emporium on the first floor of the building, said.
3. Joni Matthews’ home in the University of Evansville neighborhood displays a colorful attitude much like her fashion sense. Featured in September/ October 2014, the sunroom highlights Matthews’ affection for the beach and sailing.
4. An apartment above the former Stratman’s Pharmacy on Main Street (March/April 2023) caught our eye with a big fish peering from the corner window. The fish was a relic from an early 2000s United Way fundraiser; the space was occupied by Rick Kueber and Elizabeth Clark. “We’re always trying to find funky stuff,” Elizabeth told us.
5. Designed and built in 1981 by Dr. Sanford and Jacquie Schen, the notable double geodesic dome home was featured in July/August 2004. The game room makes use of colorful geometric shapes in the art and upholstery to play to the home’s architecture.
HISTORIC BEAUTIES
6. The yellow Italianate home of Kirk and Sherry Wright on Southeast Riverside Drive is an attention grabber (May/June 2014). The couple named the 1869 “Casa Finale” — for it is to be the last home they purchase. The home made an earlier appearance in March/April 2002 in a story called “Price of Preservation.”
7. Scott and Claire Bosma’s Historic Newburgh, Indiana, home (July/August 2019) has a compelling story, not only because it was built in the 1840s, but because the couple purchased the home from Claire’s parents. It’s where she grew up. “This has always felt like another sibling — the house,” Claire said.
8. “Why not Downtown?” then-Evansville mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel asked in 2009 about a potential Idea Home on Washington Avenue. A year later, the Downtown Idea Home opened for public tours (September/October 2010) in the neighborhood that had landed on Indiana Landmark’s “10 Most Endangered” list.
9. Leanne Banna’s early 1860s home on the Henderson, Kentucky, riverfront (March/April 2024) caught her eye decades before she purchased it to remodel. She calls it “the New Orleans house” because of its ironwork and wide porches — and it always was her favorite home on the street.
10. Hiding in plain sight is one of the city’s most historically significant homes (September/October 2012). Built in the 1840s or 1850s, Pete and Vera McCullough’s Federal-style home is the only aboveground remnant along the Wabash & Erie Canal route through Evansville.
A MODERN TAKE
11. A 1955 residence on Scenic Drive owned at the time (March/April 2022) by Dan Hendrickson is recognized as one of the most authentic examples of mid-century modern architecture in the area. A year-long remodel restored it and added modern amenities selected to blend with the existing characteristics.
12. For Nathan and Noelle Mominee, the home that took three years to design before they built in the woods in Boonville, Indiana, is a mixture of functionality, modern design, and comfort (November/ December 2017). “It was a good thing it took some time to finalize because we’ve grown as designers and as people,” Nathan said.
13. Part science, part art, part architecture describes the modern marvel near Darmstadt, Indiana (May/ June 2007). The one-floor, V-shaped handicapped-accessible home with glass walls was designed for Nannette and Jerry Stump by their son, Reggie, an artist in California.
14. Jeff and Misty Bosse’s home overlooking the Ohio River in Newburgh was designed by family friend and Hafer architect Jack Faber (July/August 2024). Once the drawings were complete and the 3D rendering was made, “The house looked exactly like we imagined,” Jeff said.
15. The most modern Evansville Living Idea Home (May/June 2021) to date was built for Dr. Hubert and Maricel Reyes in Victoria Estates in Newburgh. The home design is the popular West Coast Japandi style, combining Japanese and Scandinavian aesthetics.
UNIQUE ABODES
16. The 1938 administration building for the Boehne Tuberculosis Hospital on the far West Side is home to four spacious condominiums (September/ October 2021). Scott Anderson, known for his restoration work on historic buildings, and wife Rene purchased the property in 2008 and began restoration soon after.
17. Living in the 6,000-square-foot former Kasson School in German Township has required patience of owners Frank and Michelle Peterlin. “It took time. There was no need to rush,” Michelle said in the July/ August 2014 issue. “None of it was restored.”
18. In rural Sebree, Kentucky, Brent and Shawn Wiggins have stitched together their home from grain silos (November/December 2023). “I hate building the same thing over and over,” Brent said. “This was a totally unique idea.”
19. Sharon Mosely declared she would not move north of the Mason-Dixon line when her husband Scott proposed they relocate to Newburgh. Mosley wrote about their home, a condominium in the 1854-built former Methodist Episcopal Church in the January/February 2012 issue.
20. John Bassemier grew up playing in Hose House No. 8 at the corner of Third Avenue and Columbia Street, where his father Clarence was captain in the 1950s. “I used to slide down the pole all the time,” Bassemier said. He spent more than two decades restoring the 1909 hose house, featured in September/ October 2017.
OUTDOOR OASES
21. “We feel like we have created Miami in the Midwest,” Lynn Ogle told Evansville Living in March/April 2020. She and husband David bought the lot behind their Newburgh home when they purchased the property in 1997. They transformed the extra backyard space into an oasis after adding a sunroom to their property in 2016.
22. The garden room behind Nancy Gaunt’s 1950s ranch-style home in the Audubon Terrace neighborhood (July/August 2005) is a structure with four walls of flourishing greenery, a carpet of blooming Gerbera daisies, and an oversized mantle in the form of an arbor.
23. Jane Hayden has been the primary caretaker of the backyard garden she shares with her husband Gary for more than 40 years. Readers got a peek in the March/ April 2019 issue. “It’s my retreat before I get my day started,” Jane said.
24. Third-generation horticulturist J.T. McCarty and wife Julie, former owners of Colonial Classics, have continually upgraded the landscaping and gardens surrounding their Jefferson Park home in Newburgh since moving in 16 years ago. In 2021, the couple began a major overhaul of the space, designed around the installation of a temperature-controlled Thursday Pool (November/December 2022).
25. The Vincennes, Indiana, home of Dallas and Susan Foster, owners of Landscapes by Dallas Foster, serves as a showplace for the landscape design the couple and their team specialize in. “Over the years, our designs have developed into what we call well-designed landscapes in a non-obvious way, reflecting nature but still satisfying the elements of design,” Dallas said in the May/June 2019 issue.
