Mansion on Butler University Campus

Availability only during summers ~May 8 thru ~August 15. Please email for specifics.

Perfect layout, location, and access for larger groups. Completely private with huge formal and informal gathering spaces (indoor and outdoor), 24 bedrooms, 53 beds.

Faces Butler University's park-like grounds. Directly across the street from Butler's student center, Atherton Union. Atherton has a cafe and typical student union grocery items (varies with Butler's schedule), as well as Butler's "bookshop" store and a private campus Starbucks. The Chatham Tap restaurant is a short walk through campus. Less than a mile to the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Less than 2 miles to each of the Indiana State Fairgrounds and the Indianapolis Children's Museum.

Huge front and back patios. Front patio and lawn are shaded by old trees. Back patio is enclosed with cedar privacy fence with gates, and includes an outdoor fireplace with very comfortable seating and tables. Also includes a 2-tank propane double outdoor grill that can grill 60 burgers at a time.

Our home's main floor has beautifully furnished Great Room with fireplace; a Library/conference room; 3 private baths (1 full with "roll in" shower, and 2 half); enormous Dining Room; and a galley kitchenette (green tile walls in the photos).

Oak dining room tables and chairs can be arranged in any configuration. Two 86” TVs in dining room.

24 huge bedrooms with 53 beds. Each bedroom has either 1, 2, or 3 sets of bedroom furniture. Each set of bedroom furniture includes extra-long twin bed, desk and chair, chest of drawers, and hanging rack with shelf. Beds are often pushed together to create the size of a king bed (small gap between the separate bed mattresses). The separate beds can also be stacked as bunkbeds if guests would like.

There are 2 private half-baths and 1 private full bath on main level, and 2 private half-baths in lower level.

Bedrooms are on the 2nd and 3rd floors, and do not have en suite baths. The 2nd and 3rd floors each have one very large bathroom with multiple sinks, private water closets, and shower rooms. The showers are separate full-tile walls, but (see photos) they share a drying area on each floor, so for privacy guests may wish to use only one shower per floor (1st, 2nd, 3rd floors) at a time; or designate shower rooms on different floors for different genders. Shower/drying rooms are not visible from sinks and water closets, so shower room can be restricted to one person at a time if desired, while the sinks and water closets remain open to everyone.

The linens service company used by Butler provides fresh sets of sheets, blanket, pillow, and towel for each guest. If your number of guests increases, please let us know at least a week in advance to order additional sets of linens. There are no housekeeping services during a guest's stay.

Nicely furnished upstairs lounges with 75” TVs on 2nd and 3rd floors.

Lower level has 2,300 square foot gathering room with nice seating areas, game tables, plus 120 stacking chairs that can be set up for large meetings or presentations.

Laundry room with free washers and dryers.

Very fast free wi-fi (Butler University Guest Wi-Fi network -- full coverage everywhere inside the house and continuous everywhere on campus).

Huge private parking areas for well over 50 vehicles. Lots of space for RVs or trailers.

Message us and we're happy to send you complete floorplans of all 4 floors. You can pre-select your bedrooms if you wish.

All interior and exterior locks including all bedrooms are electronic keycard access. A unique keycard is created for each guest. If desired, we can make custom-access keycards for group chaperones to have access to children's bedrooms.

The kitchenette off the Dining Room is open for guest use. In the photos, it is the galley space with green tiled walls. It has an air fryer/toaster, microwave, refrigerator/freezer, and a large commercial ice machine -- guests are welcome to fill their coolers. It does not have a stove or range, so it is not a full kitchen and is mainly for snacks.

Guest groups are welcome to bring crockpots and other safe cooking items. There is a cast iron griddle for the outdoor grill, along with grill tools.

Guests do not have direct access to the commercial kitchen unless they hire the catering company we use. In some photos the kitchen's rolling door is raised, showing the commercial kitchen in the background. We contract with a large catering company to run our kitchen and meal services. Catering company and our insurance company will not allow direct guest usage of the commercial kitchen because of the industrial equipment, and because catering company pays for all of the stocked food. However, if any level of meal service is desired, guests are welcome to engage the same catering company to use our kitchen. Subject to their availability and advance arrangements, caterer can provide any level of food services, from box lunches to fine dining. We are happy to facilitate guests' arrangements with caterer, but meal service arrangements and payment would be directly between the guest and caterer. If guests engage caterer to provide food prep and dishwashing, then plates, glasses, and cutlery will be included with their service. Otherwise, we do not provide those. If you wish to contact them, send us a message and we will give you their area director's direct email and phone number. They provide wonderful service and food--one of the reviews below notes how much they enjoyed the service.

Please note: reservations require pre-approval. We typically rent to large groups -- traveling sports teams for multi-day meets, or companies for Indy 500 or conventions. Those groups can be more complicated to coordinate and so we only do reservations by direct message, not through VRBO's automated reservation calendar. Please send a message to check on availability for specific dates.

The home has a separate Lower Level apartment for the House Mother or Faculty in Residence, which is not available to guests. The apartment is occasionally occupied during the summer, but when so, it is self-contained and they do not intrude on guests’ use of the House.

The outside grounds and parking areas are well lit and have 24/7 security cameras. No events/parties are allowed unless discussed and approved in writing in advance.

The house is thoroughly professionally cleaned before and after each guest stay. No cleaning services are provided during a stay, unless requested and prearranged with our cleaning company (there are cleaning supplies and washers/dryers on site for guests' free use). Each booking has a $600 post-stay cleaning fee, regardless of length of stay. The base rental rate is for 12 guests; for more than 12 guests there is an additional charge of $25 per guest (total for entire stay, not per night) to pay for the additional sets of bedding and towels.

No elevator, no first floor bedrooms. Guests must be able to climb stairs.