The Batman has bought Bloomington’s “Batman House.”
Here’s what we know about the new owner and why the home’s name has nothing to do with the caped crusader of DC Comics fame.
Where is Bloomington’s Batman House?
It’s at 403 W. Kirkwood Avenue, about two blocks west of the county courthouse.
Why is it called the Batman House?
According to the HT archives, the home was built in 1895 by John Waldron Sr. as a wedding gift for his daughter, Mary, and her husband, Ira C. Batman, an attorney, state legislator, judge and Indiana University trustee.
How big is the Batman House?
The limestone mansion has three bedrooms and one full bath and covers about 4,000 square feet, according to local property records.
What’s the home’s architectural style?
Bloomington architect John Nichols designed the home in the Queen Anne style, “with elements of Second Empire and Romanesque styles,” according to the HT archives. The mansion “sports angled towers, steep-pitched hipped roofs and outstanding examples of 19th-century limestone carving,” according to a 2017 HT article on the home by Lee Sandweiss.
Through the decades, the structure served as a home for the Batman family and housed the Weir Funeral Home and the antique store of the late Nancy and Dennis Garrett, who bought the house in 1974.
In the article, Chris Sturbaum, then a member of the city council and the city’s historic preservation commission, called the home a “unique Bloomington landmark” and said it serves as “an irreplaceable physical window into Bloomington’s past.”
Who owns the Batman House now?
A sales disclosure form shows the property was acquired on Feb. 27, 2026 for $770,000 by The Batman, a limited liability company based in Bloomington and created on Dec. 5, 2025. Filings with the Indiana Secretary of State’s office list as the company’s manager Peter Dvorak.
Who is Peter Dvorak?
Dvorak said this week that he came to Bloomington in the 1980s as a student and started a business that at its height included about 2,000 apartments, in cities including Indianapolis and Bloomington, and 5 million square feet of commercial space, mostly property that he bought and redeveloped. The business got embroiled in the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007/08, and Dvorak filed for bankruptcy in 2011.
Dvorak said that with his business Pinnacle Asset Management, he still owns apartments in Indianapolis, Terre Haute and Illinois, but buying the Batman House was his first foray back into Bloomington for an investment property.
Why did Dvorak buy the Batman House?
Dvorak, who splits his time between Naples, Florida, and Bloomington, said he has restored historic buildings before and developed an admiration for the Batman House because he lived, until last summer, right across the street from it, in a fourth-floor unit of the Kirkwood Apartments, just east of the house.
He said his company’s projects have included the Buskirk-Showers mansion, at 520 N. Walnut St., the current home of Greene & Schultz Trial Lawyers, the adjoining Lockerbie Court Condominiums, the Allen Building, which houses the Uptown Café, and the Johnson Creamery Business Center.
Dvorak said he could not pass up the chance to buy the Batman House, as he figured an opportunity might not come up again any time soon.
“It’s just a really cool structure,” he said.
What does the new owner plan to do with the Batman House?
Dvorak said he is still figuring out what exactly he will do with the house, as he may try to acquire adjoining properties, but options include turning the house back into a single-family home or a short-term rental.
He said the home has historic protections and good bones, in part because of work done by trade union members in the 1970s, when the structure served as the headquarters of the local chapter of the AFL-CIO. The boiler was replaced within the last five years, and the fireplace, flooring and a lot of the woodwork remain in good condition, he said.
However, Dvorak said that to update the home for modern conveniences, he may have to upgrade electrical systems and plumbing and make some changes to the layout.
He said he hopes to have a definitive plan within the next three months, but he said with permits and construction, it may take six months or more before the home can welcome new residents.
Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington’s ‘Batman House’ has new owner. Here are his plans.
Reporting by Boris Ladwig, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
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