Skiles Test and the House of Blue Lights

We all love urban legends, and here in Indy, we have one that I have heard of for a long time, but is now only a memory.

Years ago, teenagers used to try to get a glimpse of the House of Blue Lights at 6700 Fall Creek Boulevard, Indianapolis, Indiana. The home of eccentric Skiles Test, heir to the Diamond Chain Company, had rumored to have kept his deceased wife in a glass coffin surrounded by blue lights. Skiles favorite color was blue and he believed the color blue attracted spirits. Teenagers would often make the trek to his house to get a glimpse of his wife lying in her coffin.

The home was quite elaborate, he sided his house in white tile, added a 3 story bathhouse, sun deck, a miniature railway and his own power plant. The 40 X 80 ft pool was solar heated and had a 3 story diving platform. Skiles Test loved pets and kept hundreds on his huge estate, never turning away a stray animal, and maintaining his own pet cemetery.

Skiles tolerated the trespassing and vandalism on his property until 1950 when he finally constructed a fence around his property. As a result, vandalism increased. After his death, an auction was held in 1964 that drew over 50,000 people seeking a souvenir or two. Items for sale included hundreds of pet coffins, cases of dog food, shoes and other miscellaneous items. Skiles Test willed the property to the Indianapolis Department of Parks and Recreation. The Parks Department razed the house in 1978, amid public outcry, and now is known as Skiles Test Park. Skiles Test was a generous benefactor, a friend of Ft. Benjamin Harrison, and donated the land for Skiles Test Elementary.

An aerial photograph of the house in 1937 can be seen here.
http://www.cees.iupui.edu/Service_Learning/images/2005%20skiles%20service%20learning%20map%201937.jpg


http://testfamilygenealogy.com/documents/quotes/house.htm
http://www.cees.iupui.edu/Service_Learning/All_Projects/Skiles_Test.htm