Mountz House

Mountz House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Mountz House, January 2013
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Location	507 E. Houston St., Garrett, Indiana
Coordinates	41°20′53″N85°7′49″W / 41.34806°N 85.13028°W / 41.34806; -85.13028
Area	less than one acre
Built	1893 (1893)
Architectural style	Queen Anne
NRHP reference No.	79000013 [1]
Added to NRHP	September 11, 1979

Mountz House is a historic home located at Garrett, Indiana. It was built in 1893, and is a two-story, four bay by five bay, Queen Anne style frame dwelling. It has a cross gable roof and two-story gabled wing. It sits on a fieldstone foundation and has a pitched slate roof. It has narrow clapboard siding and decorative diamond-shaped checkerboard pattern panels. It features a front porch with turned posts and decorative brackets. Also on the property is a contributing barn. ^{[2] : 2}

The house was originally built for Herman F. Coffinberry, president of the Garrett Banking Company. Coffinberry served as Auditor of DeKalb County from 1890 to 1894. He used embezzled funds from the county government to construct the home. He committed suicide in the house when the local sheriff came to arrest him in 1906. Henry Wesley Mountz, an attorney with the Garrett Banking Company, later purchased the property. His son, George Edward Mountz, became a prominent lawyer in his own right. He attended DePauw University and then Harvard Law School. He enlisted as a naval intelligence officer in the Second World War and served on the Japanese War Crimes Commission. Specifically, he was involved in the trial of General Tomoyuki Yamashita. He later returned to Garrett and practiced law there, while also serving as DeKalb County Prosecutor and Garrett City Attorney. ^{[2] : 4  [3]}

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. ^[1]

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. "Indiana State Historic Architectural and Archaeological Research Database (SHAARD)" (Searchable database). Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology. Retrieved August 1, 2015.Note: This includes Mary Pifer Mountz (November 1977). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Mountz House" (PDF). Retrieved August 1, 2015. and Accompanying photographs.
3. "George Mountz Collection -- Yamashita Trial Photographs". Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.