Tippecanoe Place, the restaurant that’s called the Studebaker Mansion home for 45 years, has announced it’s closing its doors.
If you’ve been around Michiana long enough, you’ve maybe celebrated a special occasion, a birthday, a high school prom dinner, or a wedding anniversary, at Tippecanoe Place. But on Monday the fine-dining establishment known for its prime rib announced on Facebook that it’s calling it quits.
Owner Kevin Jakel declined our interview request, but in a text message, said, “It was a great experience. Love Tippe and all that came with it!"
LaSalle Grill owner Mark McDonnell managed Tippecanoe Place from 1981 to 1987. He said its impact went beyond fine dining.
”Tippecanoe kind of led the way for the improvement of houses on West Washington and kind of made it a viable district, like the Museum District," McDonnell said. "It just was kind of a bastion for that neighborhood and brought people to the near West Side.”
Less clear is the future of the Studebaker Mansion that the restaurant occupied, built in the late 1880s by Studebaker co-founder Clement Studebaker. A spokesman for the company that owns the structure did not return our interview request.
