2021 Broad Ripple Home Tour

Joy’s House was recently featured in the 2021 Broad Ripple Home Tour. Over the weekend – September 18-19th – 160 visitors from our local community came out to tour our beautiful house. We had a wonderful time sharing about our house, its history, and the mission we live out here week after week.

Write-up provided by the Broad Ripple Home Tour Committee

2028 Broad Ripple Avenue

(Formerly 2023 E. 63^rd Street)

The Dawson Home – Joy’s House

The Dawson Family

Born in 1893 to Stanton Grant Dawson and Adelia M. “Dolly” Compton, Charles McKinley Dawson grew up on the family farm where Joy’s House now stands. He graduated from Broad Ripple High School in 1911 prior to attending Central Business College. In 1917, Charles married Esther Leona Minturn, the daughter of a local patent attorney. The couple began their married life in Broad Ripple, living at 6329 Bellefontaine (now Gilford) where Charles continued to earn a living on Bellefontaine before the family moved to a new house on the family farm in the early 1920s.

At the time, Charles was the president of the 42^nd Street State Bank. He was also active in civic affairs serving as the Washington Township Trustee and as Lieutenant Governor beginning in 1941. In addition to his civic interests, Charles maintained memberships in the Broad Ripple Masonic Lodge, the Scottish Rite and the North Side Exchange Club. Like her husband, Esther was also very active in civic and social affairs. She was a 50-year member of Eastern Star, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and owned several local restaurants. She wrote for the Indianapolis Star and served as chairman of the Health Department of the Indiana Congress of Parents and Teachers where she lobbied for physicals for children before entering school.

After living more than half a century in the farmhouse, Charles died at home in October 1972. Esther remained there until shortly before her death in 1992. At the time, she had ceded the house and all of its furnishings to son, Robert L. Dawson.

Joy’s House: The Early Days

Meanwhile, a young Ball State University freshman from Ft. Wayne, Indiana volunteered at an adult day center near the campus – an experience that sparked an interest that Tina McIntosh could not easily forget. Ten years later, she left behind her busy event planning job, made a giant leap into the nonprofit world, and began the process of opening her own adult day center. With support from family and friends who believed in Tina and her idea, the dream became a reality and Joy’s House was born. The old Dawson farmhouse was converted into a place where adults living with life-altering diagnoses could receive care during the day while family members or caregivers could tend to obligations or receive support and guidance.

2009: Expansion

As the need to accommodate more guests grew, so did the size of Joy’s House. An addition that tripled the size of the house was carefully designed to mimic the home’s original design. A beautiful serves as a restful place for guests to enjoy the peace and tranquility of nature reminiscent of the early years of the farmhouse.

End of Broad Ripple Home Tour Committee Write-Up

Virtual & In-Person Tours Available

In-person tours are available to prospective families during our regular operating hours, Monday through Friday between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm.

We also offer a virtual tour which can be viewed by anyone at any time!