RetroIndy: The quirky upside-down house on the west side

You’ve probably used the phrase, “I turned my house upside down,” after losing your keys or a sock. Chester Weedon did just that.

Weedon’s company, C&B Custom Builders, opened in a model home in March 1965, at 3508 Rockville Road at the intersection with West Washington Street. The home was literally a house upside down next door to an identical, but right-side-up, house — the Miss Peggy Lee model (which could be yours for $11,290 — $73 per month — on your lot).

Weedon got the idea from a Florida builder whose small upside-down house attracted nearly 400,000 visitors and a spread in Life magazine. 

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The Weedon house was a full-scale, fully furnished three bedroom, 1½ bath brick ranch, complete with a 1964 Ford Mustang hanging from the floor of the attached garage. The home was fully decorated with tables, chairs, lamps and even toys, as though you stepped into your own home.

 The idea of the home was to show the “versatility and the ability of the firm to build to any specifications,” according to a March 28, 1965 Indianapolis Star advertisement.
The home took 18 months of engineering and four months to build. After the first year, more than 50,000 people had toured the home. C&B closed in 1968 and the upside-down house was converted to offices.

Weedon died in Florida in 1992. 

Call IndyStar photo coordinator Dawn Mitchell at (317) 444-6497. Follow her on Twitter: @dawn_mitchell61.