In 1917, architect and “real estate packager” Lawrence George formed a partnership with architect-contractor Harry R. Fitton. By this time, George had already designed several northside homes, and Fitton’s Builder’s Realty firm had constructed a number of residences on North Delaware Street.

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Balmoral Court apartments at 3055 N. Meridian Street in 1919, designed by Fitton and George. Credit: Bass Photo Co Collection, Indiana Historical Society View Source

The firm Fitton and George was responsible for two of the city’s finest early 20th -century apartment buildings. In 1917 the team designed, constructed, and temporarily managed the Delaware Court apartments at 1000-1015 North Delaware Street (National Register of Historic Places, 1983). Their short partnership also produced Balmoral Court at 3055 North Meridian Street (ca. 1920), which is one of the multi-family residences in the Shortridge-Meridian Street Apartments Historic District listed on the National Register in 2000. With keystone-topped windows, dormers, and entrances facing a center courtyard, the Balmoral was the first Georgian Revival-style apartment complex in the city.

In 1921, Fitton and George dissolved their firm. Forming new partnerships, the two men continued to design and construct Indianapolis buildings. The new firm Mothershead and Fitton specialized in industrial buildings. George and MacLucas’s work included the Seville apartments (National Register of Historic Places, 1987) and the northside homes of Sol Meyer and two other officers of the Meyer-Kiser bank, which had been the primary financial backer of Balmoral Court.

Revised February 2021
 

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