Beginning when I was a kid, I took frequent trips from Fort Wayne to Elkhart. I always admired this remarkable house which, depending on which way we were going, signified that we were either leaving or coming into Wolf Lake, Indiana. I never knew much about it, but snapped some photos when I was last in the area. Now, a little research has revealed some of its story.
Wolf Lake is an unincorporated community at the crux of US-33 and State Road 109 in rural Noble County. The place was platted in 1836 next to the eponymous lake, and it features a new Dollar General, a modest downtown, a township park, and JR’s Dari Sweet. On a hill just a tenth of a mile north of JR’s stands what I later learned was the Patrick Clark house1. You can sort of see its rock retaining wall at right of the photo below.
Born on the Isle of Mann, Clark’s parents brought him to Cuyahoga County, Ohio, when he was ten. Clark moved to Wolf Lake in 1866 at forty-seven. There, he built a house described by contemporary histories as “an elegant brick residence which commands a splendid view of the adjacent country2.”
Clark’s house is an ensemble of divergent styles. The core of the building, a boxy brick massive with narrow, segmental-arched windows, is clearly Italianate. That said, its mansard roof and dormers are defining characteristics of Second Empire architecture. To make matters more interesting, the monumental front porch is Neoclassical! All this leads to my suspicion that the house evolved over time: it was built sometime between Clark’s arrival in 1866 and its appearance on an 1874 plat map3, but I bet the mansard roof replaced a hipped version in the 1870s or 1880s when Second Empire made its way across the pond. Further, I think the house was modernized again after 1900 with the addition of its Neoclassical entryway. As late as 1985, the home featured an iron balustrade atop the portico4.
I don’t know what Patrick Clark did for a living, but his family was well-regarded5 and the 1874 plat map I mentioned earlier seems to indicate an orchard that surrounded his house6. Unfortunately, he died in 1902 at the age of eighty-two7. The newspapers don’t say much about Clark’s cause of death, but if his illness lingered, he may have been treated by Dr. James Luckey.
Luckey was a Noble County native who graduated from the American Medical College in Chicago, then received a certificate from the Medical College of Indiana in Indianapolis, the predecessor to today’s IU School of Medicine. Luckey returned to Wolf Lake and began to practice medicine there as early as 1893. He established a hospital in 1928, then built a new one the following year8.
James’ son, Robert, was also a doctor. After he graduated from IU Medical School, he joined his father’s practice at the Luckey Hospital where he was primarily responsible for births9. I don’t know the trajectory of ownership in the intervening years, but by 1925, Robert Luckey had purchased the old Clark home10. It appears as though he lived there until his death in 1961- the same year that Luckey Hospital closed for unrelated reasons11.
The Patrick Clark/Robert Luckey house most recently sold in 2025 for $225,000. As of this writing, the listing is still available online; you can take a look inside if you want! It looks to me like the attic was in the process of being divided into multiple spaces, which tracks since the windowpanes were missing when I passed by a few months ago.
I doubt many people speeding through Wolf Lake give this house on the hill more than a passing glance. Still, I did! One of the things I enjoy most about exploring Indiana is that sometimes, the buildings that linger in your memory for decades turn out to have stories as interesting as their appearance. This house certainly did. I’m glad I finally stopped to photograph it instead of simply driving past it one more time.
Sources Cited
1 Survey Number 113-482-60005 (1985). IHSSI (County Survey). SHAARD. Indiana Department of Natural Resources [Indianapolis]. Web. Retrieved June 26, 2026.
2 Goodspeed, W. & Blanchard, G. (1882). Counties of Whitley and Noble, Indiana. F.A. Battey & Co. [Chicago]. Book.
3 Illustrated Historical Atlas of Noble County, Indiana (1874). Andreas & Baskin [Chicago]. Map.
4 (See footnote 1).
5 (See footnote 2).
6 (See footnote 4).
7 In Northern Indiana (1902, February 5). The Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel. p. 1.
8 National Register of Historic Places, Luckey Hospital, Wolf Lake, Noble County, Indiana, National Register # 13000090.
9 (See footnote 7).
10 Hixson, W.W. (1925). Plat book of Noble County, Indiana. W.W. Hixson & Co. [Rockford]. Map.
11 (See footnote 7).
“Unfortunately, he died in 1902 at the age of eighty-two.”
I’d say living to that age at that time was pretty darn fortunate!
“Fortunately, he died at eighty-two.” Lmao!
Judging from the listing photos, that poor house has suffered some unfortunate interior updates.
Yeah, it’s pretty bad in places.
That little hospital has always interested me. I’d love to know more about it.
I took enough photos to write a post about it! I’m sure I’ll get around to it. Unfortunately, my impression is that it’s no longer a museum.