Lake Maxinkuckee Its Intrigue History & Genealogy Culver, Marshall, Indiana

814 East Shore Dr. - Vonnegut House  



Section 22 History 1835-1922

the 1880 map listed as George Peeples as owning 35.5A
    Clement paid $1200.00 recorded in Deed Book 42 to Clemens Vonnegut Jr. from George Peeples and Catherine E. Peeples and the home was built about 1889/1890.


One says Henry Schnaull was owner of the property but all plat maps show that C. or Clements Vonnegut as the owner. The only thread of truth in this is this statement:
    The Schnull daughters - were established on the east side of the lake by their - father, as quoted by "Catey" Catherine Matilda (Glossbrener_ Rasmussen:
    ...a relative, great-grandfather, Henry Schnull had established his three daughters - Emma, Nannie, and Julia, in cottages on the East Shore which became famous for their tennis court about 1904. One of these, called "Hilarity Hill", is where eleven little Vonnegut - Mueller - Schnull cousins grew-up

    Emma Schnull married Clemens Vonnegut Jr.

    Nanette Schnull married Bernard Vonnegut

    Julia W. Schnull married George J. Mueller


1898 - Shows C. Vonnegut_ as owner of this parcel and that George Peoples still owning considerable acreage and one lake lot in between P. O. Vonnegut


1952-61 - William Kerfoot Stewart and the family of W. K. Stewart
    1958 Lake Directory - 814 W. Kerfoot Stewart - 2503 Cherokee Parkway, Louisville, Ky.


1979 - Mrs. Jean Ward Woolett Property


1981-3 - 1983 Donald & Kay Muehlhausen (Muehlhausen Family) Donald & Kay Muehlhausen (Muehlhausen Family)
    He was CEO of the family company which manufactured springs and Kay was an EMT during the late 1970's and early 1980's with Culver -Union Township Ambulance Serivce.


The property was subdived into to lots Muehlhausen Minor Sub Lot 1 to the north and Muehlhausen Minor Sub Lot 1 which is 818 E. Shore


Mar. 1985 -1996, Mar. - C. Nicholas & Judith L. Renneker

1999, Dec. - Jul - 2005 Ralph C. Vonnegut Jr..

2005 , Jul. - Ralph C. Vonnegut Jr. - Trustee

v 2005 , Jul. - 2102, Mar - David Gabovitch, Personal Representative
    Historic Vonnegut cottage on Lake Maxinkuckee saved from demolition
    Story Lee Sandweiss
    Herald-Times, (Bloomington, IN), Jun 11, 2016

    ...The Great Depression jump started the dispersal. In the decades that followed, the Vonneguts began selling off their Lake Max property, and Kurt Jr.'s visits to the lake dwindled. He returned after World War II with his first wife Jane Cox, and the couple spent their honeymoon at his grandfather's former cottage as the guests of the new owner. His last visit was in 1994, when he visited his cousin Ralph Vonnegut After Ralph's death in 2005, his heirs attempted to maintain 814, but in 2012 the house was sold to a developer, who intended to demolish it.

    "The bulldozers were basically moving into position. This really was an eleventh-hour save," ...

    Unfortunately, the house was in much worse condition than the partners imagined. Any plans to do a cosmetic makeover had to be scrapped. Years of neglect had taken their toll in the form of rot, structural damage, animal droppings, and dysfunctional systems and insulation that had to be completely replaced. Another disappointing discovery was that many of the home's original features--door knobs, plumbing, woodwork--had been stripped by salvagers in anticipation of its demolition.

    The project was slow-going and expensive, but the rehabbers were committed to doing things the right away not the easiest way. Today, the original part of the house remains almost exactly as it was in the 1920s--a summer cottage, with no air conditioning or furnace. Restored with evidence of its age deliberately preserved in such details as the weathered paint on the front porch, the house is furnished with period antiques and vintage Lake Maxinkuckee memorabilia. Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s novels line the bookshelves in several rooms. The 1980's addition, which previously appeared to be tacked on, now reveals more of the older part of the house--for example, the original house's roofline was intentionally left visible inside of the renovated master bedroom. The addition also features 21st - century comforts such as geothermal climate control, a modern kitchen and updated bathrooms, rendering it comfortable year-round...



2012, Mar.-2013, May - Vonnegut Family Partnership LLC

2012, Apr -2013, Jun. - Construction Management & Design, Inc.
    The house was being dismantled and stripped of its useable item when Horatio stepped in and saved it from total destruction; he bought it to restore it and rent it out original plans were to have it available for rent on July1st.




2013 Jun - A Culver Academy graduate who discovered the house’s imminent fate and resolved to intervene. He bought the property and, together with several partners, formed Old East Shore LLC to began the arduous process of restoring the long-neglected home. In his own words: “A bunch of friends bought a rotting house already stripped of some of its flooring and copper wiring and piping, to save it from demolition. It had resident raccoons and parts of it were sinking into the ground.”

Renovating Vonnegut by Sarah Handyside - Tells of the early stages of the renovation project the pitfalls the unexpected events that occurred while Sarah and her boyfriend Garth were a part of the project.

It is a delightful written book full of adventure of renovation and other information.

She also had a blog with some articles and pictures on it detailing their time at the Vonnegut house it but has disappeared.


2013, Jun - 2024 - Vonnegut House / Old East Shore LLC

    MUELHAUSEN LOT 1 MINOR SUB S4'
    MUEHLHAUSEN MINOR SUB LOT 1