The exquisite Allison Mansion was built in 1911 by automobile magnate James A. Allison, a co-founder of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The founders of Marian University, formerly Marian College, the Sisters of St. Francis, Oldenburg purchased the estate from the Allison family and moved the college to Indianapolis in 1936.

In 1970 Allison Mansion was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is also home to a historic Jens Jensen landscape, one of the most intact examples his work. Marian University has renovated it and a native Indiana wetland to create the Wetland EcoLab.

Tucked away on a hill off Cold Spring Road, Allison Mansion is the perfect site for any special occasion. Throughout the entire mansion beauty abounds. Enjoy lavishly designed large open rooms, elegant wood and marble carvings, and magnificent examples of old-world craftsmanship that include:

• bronze entry doors opening into a 40 by 40 foot, two-story grand foyer of hand-carved Circassian walnut walls in a leaf and berry motif; 
  
• a one-ton German silver chandelier;
  
• grand staircase built of solid hand-carved walnut;
  
• a music room 42 by 18 feet with carved mahogany paneling and plaster featuring musical instruments; and
  
• a breathtaking aviary lines with white Italian marble beneath a Tiffany stained glass ceiling.

The Allison Mansion can accommodate up to 200 guests for wedding receptions, anniversary and birthday parties, or any type of social event.