The Bailly Homestead is preserved by the National Park Service at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in Porter, Indiana. The Homestead was the home of Joseph Bailly, a fur trader, and his family. Bailly brought his family to the southern shore of Lake Michigan in 1822. The Homestead remained in the family until the death of his granddaughter, Frances Howe, in 1917. The Homestead is sometimes referred to as the “Bailly-Howe” Home.
The National Register properties consist of five historic buildings associated with the Bailly-Howe family and the late fur trade in northwestern Indiana. The Homestead was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962. The National Park Service acquired the Homestead on November 26, 1971. As a Landmark, it is in the First Order of Significance.
Bailly House
Construction began shortly before 1835, the year of Joseph Bailly’s death. The house is 2 1/2-stories built out of “hewn logs of cedar and oak, closely fitted, and pinned at the corners.” The house was then sided with lapped weather boards. After Joseph’s death, his daughter Ester Bailly Whistler’s family lived in the house and appeared to have made no changes. When they moved to Denver, Ester’s sister Rose Bailly Howe’s family assumed occupancy. Rose’s husband, Francis Howe, arranged to sell timber from the Homestead for the construction of a nearby railroad (for which he was an employee). Francis remodeled and installed a kitchen in the basement. After Francis Howe’s death, the husband of Hortense Bailly Wicker (Joel) took over management. He apparently did not modify the house.[3]
Before her death, the widow Marie Bailly and her daughters, Rose Howe and Teresa, along with Rose’s two girls, returned. The house was in need of repairs. Minor repairs were completed before Marie’s death. After Marie Bailly’s death, the homestead was vacant from 1869 until about 1891. At that time, extensive work was done to replace floors and walls.
Two Story Log Home
The two-story log building to the north of the Chapel was the Bailly’s dairy house and tool shed. It is believed to have been built by Rose Howe after her return from Europe in 1874. A night-watchman lived on the ground floor.
Chapel or Summer Kitchen
Originally a two-story kitchen, this is where Joseph Bailly and his stepdaughter Theresa de la Vigne died. When the widow Marie Bailly returned in 1855, she chose this building as her home. The outside chimney had fallen and the space closed. She lived here until her death in 1866. From 1866-1869 Rose Bailly Howe and her daughters Rose and Frances held Sunday devotions in this building. Mrs. Howe commission a local carpenter to rebuild it into a chapel.
A new brick foundation was laid with wooden sills. Flooring from the kitchen’s second floor was reused for the chapel floor. The interior was plastered and the building completed by 1874. It remained unchanged until 1900 when materials from the main house were used for repairs. Materials from the parlor were used as that is where the family had held devotions before. This is when the apse was added. Whitewood from the parlor ceiling was used on the chapel ceiling. The building may have been moved northward about twenty-five feet.
While the Sisters of Notre Dame used the homestead, they did not use this chapel, but used a front bedroom on the second floor as a chapel. It then remained unused until 1946, when the new owner, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph LaRoche, rented it out as a residence. No additional alterations were made.
Brick House
Bailly Brickhouse on the southwest edge of the HomesteadTo the southwest of the main house is the brick house. It was built in 1874 by Miss Rose Howe her return from Europe. Miss Howe died in 1879, dating the construction 3–4 years earlier. The second floor was a studio and the ground floor was used as the kitchen
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