Risen from the Ashes (by Patrick O’Brian)
Risen from the Ashes by Patrick O'Brian covers much of the same territory as the first West Baden Springs Hotel book I recently reviewed, West Baden Springs: Legacy of Dreams. (You can read my review here.) The same cast of owners, the same Jesuit seminary and college years — though I'll add here what I missed in that first review: the mineral springs that first drew visitors to the area, and were believed to cure everything from headaches to alcoholism, were permanently closed during the Jesuits’ tenure. We could still catch a faint whiff of sulfur walking through the gardens on our visit.
Published in 2023, Risen from the Ashes distinguishes itself in a couple of important ways: its coverage of the deterioration era and the restoration that followed, and its presentation. The wider format of the hardcover gives the many photographs real room to breathe, and it makes for a genuinely lovely reading experience. It's very well written — professional, concise, and intelligent, with O'Brian delivering detailed information without ever feeling dense.
The section on the hotel's decline is the part that stayed with me. From 1983 until 1996, this remarkable property simply sat empty and deteriorated. The photographs from that era are hard to believe — external structures nearly swallowed whole by overgrowth, nature reclaiming what people had walked away from. At one point, an entire six-story section of the building literally crumbled. It's heartbreaking to look at a place this stunning and see it left to rot.
That's what makes the end of the story so satisfying. In 1996, the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana and the Cook Group stepped in to begin saving the hotel and its gardens — a restoration that must have felt daunting, maybe even impossible, in its early days. O'Brian traces that work with real care, and having seen the hotel in its current, gorgeous state, it's humbling to understand just how much had to happen to get there.
We're already planning a return visit, and I know I'll walk through those halls with a different kind of appreciation next time — not just for the architecture, but for everyone who refused to let it disappear.
You can read about our stay at West Baden Springs Hotel and the rest of our French Lick adventure in the post linked below.
Our garden is nowhere near the grandeur of West Baden Springs, but my husband and I have worked hard to create a lovely little space of our own. Here are a few pictures of our greenhouse, vegetable and flower gardens, and fire pit.
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