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Benjamin Harrison was a successful Indianapolis attorney when he and his wife Caroline bought a double lot on North Delaware St. But it took 6 years before construction began on the ornate, 16-room, Italianatestyle home. When completed%u2014with an added carriage house, brick drive, and landscaping%u2014the cost came to $24,008.59. A showcase for its time, the house featured running water in the kitchen, washroom, and second-floor bathroom. A coal furnace fed heated air to 12 registers, and 23 gas fixtures provided artificial light. There was even a burglar alarm fashioned of bells and strings attached to the doors. The family lived in Washington, DC during Harrison%u2019s 8 years in the U.S. Senate and his 8 years the White House. Unfortunately, Caroline died in 1892, a year before his presidency ended, so he returned to his Indianapolis residence a grief-stricken widower. But just three years later, at the age of 62, he fell in love and married his wife%u2019s 37-year-old niece. Her name was Mary Lord Dimmick, and she had been the First Lady%u2019s assistant in the White House. While not related to Benjamin by blood, Mary was a first cousin to his two adult children%u2014Russell and Mamie. They were both deeply scandalized, and neither attended their father%u2019s second wedding. In time, the newlyweds had a daughter named Elizabeth.Five years after the marriage, Harrison died at home of pneumonia at 67. Still not resigned to their father%u2019s second marriage, neither Russell nor Mamie attended his funeral. As a widow, Mary and her daughter continued to live in the Harrison home until 1913, when they relocated to New York. For a number of years she rented the house to various families, then had it converted into a rooming house. In 1937, Mrs. Harrison sold the aging structure to the Arthur Jordan Foundation. They used it as a dormitory for female students in the renowned Jordan Conservatory of Music until the school moved to Butler University in 1951. As per the 1937 purchase agreement, the house was then opened to the public. In 1964, it was officially listed as a United States National Historic Landmark, and today it is known as the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site.Library%u2014%u2014President Benjamin Harrison Home%u2014%u2014Indianapolis, IndianaBuilt in 1874, Harrison%u2019s home (except while Senator, and while President) until his death on March 13, 1901. Now a museum.Institutional and Private Libraries