Beiger House

About this property

The Beiger Mansion, pronounced By-gur, though known more colloquially as Bee-gur, was the palatial home of Martin Valentine and Susie Higgins Beiger at 317 Lincoln Way E. in Mishawaka, Indiana. In 1973 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1903 the home was burned to the ground in 1975 and has since been restored, though not to its former grandeur. The restoration process is still ongoing. It is now operated as a bed and breakfast and event facility. Martin V. Beiger, born February 3, 1847, was Mishawaka's first millionaire. Martin made his fortune with the Mishawaka Woolen and Rubber Manufacturing Company, which would later become Ball Band then Uniroyal. He, along with his father Jacob Beiger, bought the small textiles mill in 1867. The mill originally had just 3 workers and mostly made flannels. He married Susie Higgins, the daughter of a local jeweler, in December 1875. In 1886 Martin Beiger, along with Adolphus Eberhart, patented the first all knit wool boot that did not lose shape or size. Demand for this product quickly grew the company. The boots were topped with a black band and, later, a red ball which became the companies trade mark. Ball Band went on to employ 5000 workers by 1923 and as many as 10000 in the 1940s. By 1903 the company had around 2000 employees and Martin had become very wealthy. Soon he and Susie were considering a more lavish home in the style of some of New Port Rhode Island's mansions, particularly that of The Breakers. Planning for a new home was begun in 1900, and construction on the 4+1⁄2-story neoclassical mansion began in 1903. Architectural plans were designed by Durham and Snyder, a company in South Bend, Indiana, and landscaping plans were designed by prominent landscape architect Jens Jensen. In the first year of construction, on September 26, 1903, Martin Beiger died at the age of 56 after an infection from an operation for appendicitus. Construction on the mansion was halted for a time, however Susie later decided to continue with construction and the mansion was completed in 1908 at a total cost of 100,000 dollars. The home is 21,790 square feet and originally had some 40 rooms. It has 11 unique fireplaces. Among the original rooms there were 11 bedrooms, 2 dining rooms, 2 kitchens, 2 sitting rooms, a billiards room, a library, a breakfast room, a solarium, a reception room, a ball room, a one-lane bowling alley, a museum, and a music room. The music room featured a three-manual Aeolian organ costing $25,000 at the time (about $700,000 in 2012). The 5th floor is a 2,000-square-foot area that originally housed the gardeners quarters. The mansion originally sat on nearly an entire block, and featured landscaped gardens and a full tennis court, built for her nephew.

Location

Categories

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

More in St. Joseph County

Historic places, battles, and census history across St. Joseph County.

More historic places in Indiana

Browse all historic places in Indiana.

Conflict records

Explore 19,000+ military engagements across American history.

Indiana history

Colonial settlement, territorial period, and statehood narrative.