The Inn at Irwin Gardens

The Inn at Irwin Gardens is one of Columbus’ most distinctive historic properties, offering visitors the chance to experience a home and garden that have remained remarkably intact for more than a century. The Irwin family moved into the original residence at Fifth and Mechanic Street, now Lafayette Avenue, in 1864, when the house was a much smaller Victorian home with low-pitched roofs, bracketed eaves, iron railing, and a rooftop widow’s walk. As the Irwin family grew and Joseph Irwin’s business success expanded, the home was enlarged in 1890 and again in 1910, when Massachusetts architect Henry A. Philips transformed it into the elegant Edwardian estate seen today.

The 1910 renovation brought extraordinary craftsmanship and modern innovation to the property. Imported English oak, French and Welsh tiles, Italian marble fireplaces, paneled walls, plaster moldings, silk and brocade wall coverings, electric lighting, a hydraulic elevator, telephone, intercom, central vacuum system, and other advanced features reflected the home’s status as one of the most forward-looking residences of its time. Much of that transformation remains preserved today, including the wood trim, bathroom tile and fixtures, furnishings, and architectural details.

Beyond the house, the Italianate gardens are central to the Irwin Gardens experience. Begun in 1910 and completed in 1913, the gardens were inspired by an excavated garden at Pompeii and were designed as a series of formal outdoor rooms connected to the home by a raised terrace. Visitors can take in wisteria-covered pergolas, turtle pond fountains, a sunken garden, a medieval Italian wishing well, a formal herb garden, and a Roman-Pompeian tea house overlooking the grounds. Sculptural details throughout the gardens add to their character, from marble busts of Greek philosophers to a bronze elephant with ties to the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.

Today, The Inn at Irwin Gardens continues its next chapter as both a historic inn and a preserved cultural landmark. Opened as an inn in 2010, the property carries forward the Irwin family’s long tradition of welcoming visitors to the gardens while preserving the house, grounds, fountains, walls, and plantings for future generations.