Eagle Country 99.3 By Hillforest Victorian House Museum, news release
Hillforest Victorian House Museum. File photo.
(Aurora, Ind.) - On Friday, January 27, 1956, a public announcement was made that the Thomas Gaff residence at 213 Fifth Street, Aurora, was being purchased and would be preserved. Completed in 1855, “Forest Hill” was built by local entrepreneur Thomas Gaff for his family. Members of the Gaff family resided at the home until 1926. The last Gaff living there, Agnes Gaff Howe, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Gaff, sold the home to Will and Birdie Mae Stark who resided there twenty-two years. The home was purchased in 1948 by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, who used the home as their post club house. In 1956, Esther Wilson Roache, a local bank executive, is credited with enlisting the support of nine other local citizens of influence to purchase the century-old home, which was in poor condition, to save the structure. Ultimately the Hillfo