Skiles Test Nature Park (Indianapolis, Indiana)

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This nature preserve occupies the site of the famous "House of Blue Lights" one of the most endearing folk legends of Indianapolis.

Skiles Test was a visionary businessman and intensely private man who chose to make his home on a hilltop farmstead that he purchased in the 1920s in what what was once a remote part of the suburbs.

Test, an avid swimmer, had one of the first in-ground Olympic-sized swimming pools built as part of his estate. He then made the unfortunate decision to install blue outdoor floodlights to add to the ambience of the pool area.

An avid animal lover, Test inadvertantly added fuel to the suspicion of the locals by creating a formal pet cemetery on the hillside by the pool with brass nameplates for his deceased pets.

The combintation of his eccentric home, the blue lights, the remote location and the pet cemetery all somehow fused into a local urban legend that claimed Skiles' beloved deceased wife was embalmed in a glass coffin inside the house, surrounded by vicious guard dogs and the eerie blue lights.

An unauthorized trip to the haunted "House of Blue Lights" became a rite of passage for generations of Indianapolis teens, and the gravel roads around the estate became a popular Lovers Lane.

The growth of the urban legend proved to be an increasing problem for Test. The trespassing and vandalism started to become a real problem. Test was mostly forgiving of the intrusions, but things turned ugly when there were several instances of the house being shot at and several of his dogs were poisoned.

After Test's death, no evidence was discovered that indicated his wife was buried on the property, for, in fact, he had been married three times and all three women survived him.

The public sale at auction of the possessions from the property did enhance the rumors of his eccentric later life. Nevertheless, the house was widely regarded as a "haunted" site well past Skiles' death in 1964.

The house itself was originally of wood-frame construction, with a full exterior facade of white opaque glass brick. Many additions to the original farm house included glass solarium/greenhouses, and numerous lightning rods on the roof.

Following the death of Skiles and the destruction of the house, his heirs bequeathed the property to Indy Parks and it was developed into a natural resource area called the Skiles Test Nature Park.

A view of the property from the air in 1937 can be found at the IUPUI Skiles Test Nature Park page.www.indygov.org/eGov/City/DPR/Parks/List/Skiles+Test+Na...