On your right stands a shingle-clad house with a broad gambrel roof, a large gable dormer, and a deep front porch framed by fluted Doric columns and brick end piers.
This is the Hager House, and in nineteen ten the architects Austin and Shambleau gave South Bend a rather confident version of the Shingle Style. That style prizes a continuous skin of wooden shingles, so the house feels less like a stack of parts and more like one sweeping form. The gambrel roof - with two slopes on each side - gives the upper floor extra room, while the porch roof flares gently at the edges in a bellcast shape, a small gesture of grace before you even reach the door. The app shows how those broad surfaces and sturdy classical columns balance elegance with domestic comfort. In nineteen eighty-five, the National Register of Historic Places recognized that quiet distinction. If you want to visit, it generally opens only on Fridays and Saturdays from ten to four.
It is a house that makes dignity feel welcoming.
When you are ready, carry on to the next stop.
