Portraits on the walls of the main upstairs hall are of the second daughter, Mary, and her husband, Herman Fendrich, the manufacturer of the famous La Fendrich cigar in Evansville. It was their granddaughter, Mary Fendrich (Mrs. Tony) Hulman who graciously returned much of the original Reitz furniture to the house.

At the far end of the hall on the right is Josephine's bedroom, the "green room". The furniture is Eastlake, not original, but of the period. The ceiling of this room was covered with many layers of paint. Restoration artists from Indianapolis removed the paint to find the original design and replicate it as it had been in the 1890's.

Across the hall is Wilhemine's bedroom with a beautiful hand painted ceiling that was discovered when wallpaper was removed. The massive bedroom set which is original Reitz furniture had been given to the Poor Clare Monastery, but was returned to the house in 1981. The cornices and mantel mirror frame are all walnut wood decorated with gold leaf. On the wall are portraits of Julia, the eldest daughter who married John Haney, and Gertrude, the mother.

Matilda's room is decorated in her favorite color, ashes of roses. Her Art Nouveau furniture featuring intricate marquetry work was manufactured by Tobey Furniture Co. of Chicago shortly after the turn of the century. In this room is one of the original marble washstands that had both hot and cold running water. A similar washstand was installed in each bedroom when the house was built. Coats of white paint have been removed to reveal the hand painted ceiling that features a design of the Arts & Crafts period.

Across the hall is Christina's bedroom. Christina died in 1931 at the age of 84. She outlived all her brothers and sisters. The walls were her favorite pale blue with a wide frieze hand painted on canvas. This room was used by Bishop Grimmelsman as a chapel while he lived here and many of the decorative elements were removed or covered over. Until the renovation of the carriage house, it was the office for the staff of the Reitz Home Preservation Society. In October 1997, restoration work was begun so that the room can be shown as part of the tour of the home. The ceiling and frieze are of the Aesthetic Movement. The ceiling was replicated from the original canvas and the frieze was restored. The walnut furniture is Renaissance Revival style. The front of the mantle is while marble.

The bathroom, installed when the house was built, was one of the first in Evansville with indoor plumbing. The washstand and tile are original. The big footed tub was probably installed when the house was remodeled and redecorated around the turn of the century.

Off the hall to the left of the stairway is Francis Joseph's bedroom. It is believed that this was the master bedroom during the parent's lifetime. Francis Joseph completely remodeled and redecorated the room about 1898. The stained glass shutters over the bedroom windows were also added at this time and the ceiling hand painted in colors to match the glass. A fireplace mantel was removed and a clothes press installed in its place to match the rest of the specially built mahogany bedroom suite.

Across the hall the room now called the sewing room was probably used as a bedroom when there were eight children in the house. After the remodeling, when there were only Francis Joseph and his four unmarried sisters living in the house, the room was turned into a sewing and upstairs sitting room. Hired dressmakers would make and fit the ladies' dresses in this room. When a large mirror was removed from over the fireplace a section of wallpaper was exposed that is believed to be the original wallpaper from the 1870's. The cast iron fireplace also dates to when the house was built, and it is believed that originally all the fireplaces in the house were of this style. A sampler on the wall was done by the second daughter, Mary, about 1853 when she was eight years old.

The back or servants' hallway gives access to two stairways. The one going up leads to the third floor where there are large closets and storage areas, four bedrooms for the female servants and a large room that may have been the servants' sitting room. The third floor mansard is not an attic since the ceilings here are ten feet high. Rooms on this floor have not yet been restored and are therefore not presently open to the public.

The stairway going down leads to the servants' lower hallway that gives access to the kitchen. In this hallway is a washstand for the servants' use. At the end of the hall is a particularly beautiful stained glass panel in the door.

The coal stove in the kitchen is not original, but was manufactured in Evansville by Indiana Stove Works, one of several stove manufacturing companies that operated in the city during the early years of the century. This model dates to about 1922 and is called the WONDER DARLING. In the wet pantry, white tile around the sink was the latest thing in the 1890's. The dry pantry has the original pine cabinet doors and drawers with storage space for spices and herbs, and bins for flour, meal and sugar. The small room at the end of the kitchen contains the oak ice box which was supplied by the icemen through a small door at the back of the box that opened to the outside. A box on the wall beside the kitchen door is the servant's call box. When members of the family wanted service they could press a bell that dropped a tab in the call box to show the servants in which room the call originated.

In the basement visitors may see an interesting laundry room that contains a huge gas fired Chicago Clothes Dryer similar to the one at the Biltmore. There is also a vintage washing machine, tubs and small cast iron gas fired stove for boiling water and heating the flat irons. The Launderers worked daily in this room.

Across the hall from the kitchen are two dining rooms. On the left is the formal dining room where the walls retain the original silk cut velvet covering in a stylized pineapple motif, a symbol of hospitality. Below the rail the walls are covered with leatherette with a gilt paper mache border.

Molded plaster and stenciling on the ceiling continue the pineapple motif. The French chandelier is bronze and gilt with a silk shade that is original. The empire style mahogany furniture was purchased in France about 1900. A special feature of the formal dining room is the elegant built-in china and silver closet. The doors have leaded glass over mirror on the outside and beautiful contrasting wood panels on the inside.

The family dining room or breakfast room can be closed off from the formal dining room by double doors that slide into the walls. Here another of the hand painted ceilings features bowers of foliage and fruits. The brass chandelier has a cranberry insert. The handsome walnut sideboard is another original family piece that has remained in the home. Ash mantels in both dining rooms are in the Aesthetic Movement style. The interior of the house may best be described as an eclectic melange of opulent decorative styles popular during the last years of the Victorian era.

Visitors leaving the house through the family entrance exit onto a veranda that the family enjoyed in good weather. The tiled floor is original.

The carriage house at the back of the property was built about 1900. On the ground floor was a stable for the horses, a tack room and a carriage room, which later became the garage for the family cars, a Rolls Royce and a Pierce Arrow. On the upper floor were storage areas for hay and animal food, which could be dropped into the stables through the trap door. Living quarters for the male servants, the groomsmen and later the chauffeurs were also on the upper floor.

Today the carriage house has been remodeled and is used for meetings, luncheons, receptions and exhibitions and may be rented for such special occasions. It has a fully equipped kitchen, rest rooms, and interpretive center where the video is shown and a museum shop where antiques are sold.

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