Celebrating Avriel Shull’s Mid-Century Legacy
Writer / Brendan White, Carmel Clay History Museum
After taking a year off to open the Carmel Clay History Museum, the Carmel Clay Historical Society is bringing back a beloved annual tradition in the Holiday Home Tour. On December 5 and 6, attendees will tour mid-century modern homes in the Thornhurst Addition designed by Carmel native Avriel Shull.
The Thornhurst Addition was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010 due largely to the work of Connie Zeigler, who is the foremost expert on Shull’s life and work. Tickets for the home tour can be purchased at carmelclayhistory.org.
Avriel Shull was born in 1931 to Don and Genevieve Christie in Carmel. Avriel showed early signs of artistic brilliance, and her parents supported her passion. She graduated from Carmel High School at the age of 16 and briefly attended the John Herron Art Institute. However, she was eager to begin a career, so she quit school and started her own business, Avriel Art Associates, in 1948. One of her early projects was a promotional booklet for a homebuilder. Shull’s interest in architectural design was piqued, and she read a builder’s manual to learn how to make her own home designs.
In 1954, she designed and constructed her first house. It was located on Beechwood Drive in Carmel and featured clerestory windows, vertical cedar siding and a shed roof. She placed a unicorn at the front entrance of the house, which she called the “Golden Unicorn.” The modern design of the house was a hit, and 600 people attended the open house held after its completion.
The following year, Shull laid out the 17-lot Thornhurst Addition to build a neighborhood of mid-century modern houses. The boundaries of her plat consisted of Main Street on the south and present-day Guilford Road on the west. A second addition extended Thornhurst Drive to the north and east and Rogers Court to the south in 1957.
Shull sought to make well-built homes affordable for veterans purchasing homes through the G.I. Bill and got three of her designs approved by the Federal Housing Administration. Her designs were unique compared to the typical small revival and ranch-style houses that were popular in the post-war era. She drew inspiration from the work of Joseph Eichler in California. Her designs featured post-and-beam construction, vaulted ceilings, glass doors, large windows extending from floor to ceiling, built-in cabinets, fireplaces, stainless steel kitchen appliances and other unique features.
Over the next two decades, she designed houses and commercial buildings throughout the country. In 1960, Frederick J. Capp hired her to design an apartment complex in a modernist style in Indianapolis. The result was Ladywood Estates, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2019. Shull worked steadily until her death at age 43 in 1976. Since her passing, her designs have gained a cult-like following. Her homes have been featured in books and magazines, such as a Bantam/Hudson plan book titled 200 Most Popular Home Plans (published in 1978).
This December, you will have an opportunity to see her brilliance for yourself at C.C.H.S.’s Holiday Home Tour.
Brendan White is the archivist at the Carmel Clay History Museum. He also works at Sheridan Historical Society and volunteers at Westfield-Washington Historical Society, Hamilton County Historical Society and Fishers Historical Society.
