Shadowwood, also known as the Wharf Estate, is a historic estate located in Palmyra Township,

Knox County, Indiana Knox County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana in the United States. The oldest county in Indiana, it was one of two original counties created in the Northwest Territory in 1790, alongside, St. Clair County, Illinois. Knox County was gradu ...

. The house was built on land purchased from Robert B. Patterson on what had been part of the Rose Hill Farmstead. The main house was built in 1917, and is a -story, five bay,

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archit ...

style brick dwelling built for Col. Eugene C. Wharf. It has a side gabled tile roof. The south facade features a two-story portico with a second story sleeping porch. Also on the property are the contributing pump house (1917),

carriage house A carriage house, also called a remise or coach house, is an outbuilding which was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and the related tack. In Great Britain the farm building was called a cart shed. These typically were open ...

(1917), and chicken house (c. 1945). ''Note:'' This includes and Accompanying photographs. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

it was rumored that the

Knights of the Golden Circle The Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC) was a secret society founded in 1854 by American George W. L. Bickley, the objective of which was to create a new country, known as the Golden Circle ( es, Círculo Dorado), where slavery would be legal. T ...

met on the hill where the house now stands as it was, at the time, a dense forest. The property became known as Rebel Hill. Colonel Wharf was a veteran of the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...

and very patriotic. He disapproved of the name and had the name Shadowwood recorded at the county court house. When Colonel Wharf died his widow, Mrs. Stella C. Wharf, conveyed the family home to

Vincennes University Vincennes University (VU) is a public college with its main campus in Vincennes, Indiana. Founded in 1801 as Jefferson Academy, VU is the oldest public institution of higher learning in Indiana. VU was chartered in 1806 as the Indiana Terri ...

as a memorial in 1957. The university did use the property for several years to house female students. The house was around ten miles from the university so it was impractical for its use. At the suggestion of Judge Curtis Shake, president of the VU Board of Trustees, university president Dr.

Isaac K. Beckes Isaac Kelley Beckes (September 19, 1909 – July 13, 1988) was the president of Vincennes University from 1950 to 1980. Before going to Vincennes he was the executive secretary of the United Christian Youth Movement. He is considered one of the in ...

worked to transfer the property to The Grand Chapter of the Sigma Pi fraternity for use as its national headquarters in August 1961. The fraternity had been founded at the university in 1897. Mrs. Wharf approved of the deal. The fraternity spent $11,500 in 1962 to upgrade the building's heating, plumbing, and electricity. The carriage house was converted into a lodge where the fraternity's traveling consultants could live. The building housed the International Headquarters of Sigma Pi Fraternity from 1963 to 2003. In 2005, the fraternity sold the property to a private individual. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 2001.

References

Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana Colonial Revival architecture in Indiana Houses completed in 1917 Buildings and structures in Knox County, Indiana National Register of Historic Places in Knox County, Indiana Sigma Pi Fraternity and sorority houses {{KnoxCountyIN-NRHP-stub