If you’re aching for the chance to live in a one-room school but the old Lincoln Schoolhouse I wrote about a few weeks ago didn’t trip your trigger, you’re in luck: another schoolhouse long since converted into a house has been listed for sale. It’s the old Keller or Buttermilk School in Madison County’s Lafayette Township.
The real estate listing for the house at 4985 North County Road 300-West says the building was built in 18991, probably based on what the county assessor has to say. The Madison County Historian says it actually dates to 18822, which is what I’m inclined to believe. The school served students in Lafayette Township’s District 5 and took its common name of Keller from the family that deeded its land. The alternate name, Buttermilk, came from “Buttermilk Station,” an early stop on the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, & St. Louis Railroad3.
Keller/Buttermilk was one of seven township schoolhouses to close in 1932 after the six-room Leach Elementary School was built near the center of the township4. After its abandonment, J.D. Sargent converted the building into the home now up for sale5. Weirdly, the listing for this “distinctive brick farmhouse” doesn’t mention the building’s former history as a schoolhouse6. Maybe that’s not a selling point. Also- is that a carpeted bathroom I spy? If that, original woodwork, exposed beams, and brick accents are your thing, the old Keller/Buttermilk schoolhouse can be yours for $225,000.
Sources Cited
1 Ohmes, Z. (2026, October 28). 4985 N 300 W, Anderson, IN 46011 RE/MAX Real Estate Solutions. Web. Retrieved October 30, 2026.
2 Jackson, S.T. (2009, November 14). In History: Township schools set by districts. The Anderson Herald Bulletin. Web. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
3 Jackson, S.T. (2019, September 10). What’s in a Name: Lafayette only township in county named for foreign-born person. The Anderson Herald Bulletin. Web. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
4 Leach School to be Dedicated Next Tuesday (1932, August 19). The Alexandria Times-Tribune. p. 1.
5 (See footnote 2).
6 (see footnote 1).
