West-Harris House
In 1996 the home was moved to protect it from demolition about 3 miles (4.8 km) from its original site to its present-day location at Heritage Park at White River in Fishers.The former residence was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999 and is operated as a local history museum, community events center, and private rental facility.The Wests had the original two-room log section of the home erected about 1826 on their land at the northwest corner of present-day 96th Street and Allisonville Road in Fishers.The home's nickname of Ambassador House comes from Addison Harris's diplomatic service in Vienna, Austria, during President William McKinley's administration.Thomas and Sarah West, early settlers of Hamilton County, Indiana, had the original, two-room log section of the home erected around 1826 on rural land they acquired on the northwest corner of present-day 96th Street and Allisonville Road in Fishers.[2] Addison C. Harris (1840–1916), a prominent Indianapolis lawyer and former member of the Indiana Senate (1876 to 1880), acquired the property in 1880 and had the home remodeled and enlarged around 1895.[7] In 1996 the Fishers town council and a group of local preservationists took action to save the historic home from demolition when plans were made to clear the surrounding land for commercial development.The Town (present-day City) of Fishers took possession of the house in 1996 and supervised its move to town-owned land at 106th Street and Eller Road, the site of Heritage Park at White River.[7][6] Ambassador House, now fully restored, is operated as a local history museum and a site for community events and private rentals at Fishers Heritage Park at White River.[10] A one-story rectangular outbuilding that is believed to have served as an ice house and/or summer kitchen is constructed of rubble stone masonry and has a simple gable roof.