The Studebakers of South Bend
South Bend sits just east of La Porte County, and the Studebaker name runs all through its history. Before the name Studebaker meant cars, it meant wagons. Clement Studebaker was born in Pennsylvania in 1831. In 1852 he and his older brother Henry opened a small blacksmith and wagon shop in South Bend. Other brothers joined over the years, and in 1868 the business became the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, with Clement as its president.
A contract to build wagons for the U.S. Army helped the company grow. After Clement’s death, it turned more and more toward automobiles, and Studebaker became a major automaker.
Building the mansion
For his new home, Clement Studebaker hired Henry Ives Cobb, a well-known Chicago architect. Local builders Christopher Fassnacht and Robert Braunsdorf did the construction. Work began in 1886, and the house was finished in 1889. It sits on about 2.6 acres near downtown South Bend.
The result was a massive house in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, a heavy, round-arched look popular in the Midwest at the time. Its walls are glacial boulders set in concrete, trimmed with Indiana Bedford limestone, under a red tile roof. Inside are about 40 main rooms on four levels, finished mostly in oak, with about 20 fireplaces.
Studebaker named the house Tippecanoe Place to honor his friend Benjamin Harrison, who had just been elected president of the United States.
The fire of 1889
The family did not get long to enjoy the new house before disaster struck. In October 1889, only months after they moved in, fire broke out. The roof burned, and much of the inside was gutted.
The Studebakers rebuilt, and the house was restored within about a year. Clement lived there until his death on November 27, 1901, at age 70.
After the Studebakers
Clement’s son George lived in the house until 1933, when he lost it in bankruptcy during the Great Depression. The mansion then stood empty for several years.
In 1941, E. M. Morris bought the house and gave it to the city for use as a school for children with disabilities. During World War II, it served as a Red Cross headquarters. After the war, in 1947, it became the E. M. Morris School for Crippled Children, as it was then called. The school stayed until 1970.
In the 1970s, a local preservation group, Southhold Restorations, bought and restored the house. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and named a National Historic Landmark in 1977. In 1980 it opened as a restaurant, a role it filled for about 45 years, until the restaurant closed in January 2026. News reports at the time said the building’s future was unclear.
The stories people tell
Like many old mansions, Tippecanoe Place has its ghost stories. In a 2019 report, local TV station ABC57 said people have described voices, shadows, balls of light and pictures swinging on the walls.
These are stories, not history. No record backs them up, and ABC57 itself said it was impossible to say for certain whether the house is haunted. What the record does show is a family home that survived a fire, a depression and decades of new uses, and is still standing.
Seeing it today
Tippecanoe Place is privately owned. Please view it from the road and respect private property. Do not go onto the grounds or try to look inside.
The house stands on West Washington, in a historic district of older homes near downtown South Bend, and the stonework and towers are easy to appreciate from the sidewalk. It remains a reminder of the Studebaker family’s place in the city’s history. For more regional history, see our La Porte County history page and La Porte After Dark.
Questions
Who built Tippecanoe Place?
It was built for wagon maker Clement Studebaker and designed by Chicago architect Henry Ives Cobb. It was finished in 1889.
Why is it called Tippecanoe Place?
Studebaker named it to honor his friend Benjamin Harrison, who had just been elected president.
Is Tippecanoe Place haunted?
That is a legend. ABC57 has reported that people describe voices, shadows and other strange things there, but nothing in the record backs up the ghost stories.
Can I visit Tippecanoe Place?
It is privately owned. The restaurant that operated there closed in January 2026. Please view the house from the road and respect private property.
Sources: National Park Service: National Historic Landmark nomination, Tippecanoe Place (1977) · SAH Archipedia: Tippecanoe Place · Building South Bend (University of Notre Dame): Tippecanoe Place · South Bend News-Times: Tippecanoe Place history (2026) · WVPE: South Bend fine dining landmark Tippecanoe Place closes doors (2026) · Wikipedia: Tippecanoe Place · Wikipedia: Clement Studebaker · ABC57: Haunted locations in Michiana (2019)