The Wylie House Christmas Cactus
The Wylie House is a historic house that is part of Indiana Univeristy. Inside the house there is a Christmas Cactus that is over 100 years old. The Wylie House was built in 1835 by Andrew Wylie and his wife Margaret and their ten children that lived in the house. Two sons were already out of the house by the time they built the home in Bloomington, Indiana.
Andrew Wylie was a Professor at the seminary that is now Indiana University, a minister and a farmer. After he passed away, the house was purchased and lived in by his cousin Theophilus Wylie and his wife Rebecca who lived to be almost 101. Volunteer docent Diana Lambdin, shared a photograph with us that had Rebecca and several other family members in it including her great grandson Milton Bradley Wylie.
When Milton Bradley Wylie moved to Massachusetts, he took the Christmas Cactus with him that Rebecca had planted. Milton passed away in 2004 and left many original items to the house.
One of the items that Diana said was to be returned to the house was the Christmas Cactus.
The beautiful cactus now sits in a place of honor in the entryway and they have photos of it blooming at Christmas. It is truly a living history memory of this house that has so many wonderful items for visitors to see and enjoy!
