By Harry McCawley, The Republic
harry@therepublic.com
Indianapolis Museum of Art would assume stewardship of the J. Irwin and Xenia Miller home on Highland Way under terms of an agreement being negotiated with the Miller family.
Discussions about the future of the house, designed by legendary architect Eero Saarinen and considered one of the world's most outstanding private residences, began in late 2007, according to Maxwell Anderson, Melvin & Bren
Simon director and CEO of the IMA.
"We feel that it is essential that this cornerstone of architecture be preserved for future generations," Anderson said. "We see our mission as maintaining it as a prism into the 1950s and '60s."
Under proposed terms, the Miller family would donate the house to the IMA, contingent on the IMA raising an endowment to maintain the property.
Discussions are still in the early stages, according to Sarla Kalsi, president of Irwin Management, which serves as the business arm of the Miller family.
"The IMA believes it is ideally suited to secure the property's long-term preservation while making it available to the public for educational and aesthetic purposes," Kalsi said. "The Miller family is excited about this possibility."
Xenia Miller died this year. J. Irwin Miller, a philanthropist and former chairman of Cummins Engine Co. and Irwin Union Bank and Trust Co., died in 2004.
Saarinen, who also designed the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., and North Christian Church in Columbus, was commissioned by the Millers to design their private residence in the mid-1950s.
The home's yard and gardens were designed by renowned landscape architect Dan Kiley, its furniture by Saarinen and Charles Eames, and fabrics and textiles by Alexander Girard.
It housed dozens of works of art, created by such legends as Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet. The artworks were removed from the home this year and sold at an auction in London, England for more than $135 million.
Kalsi and Anderson stressed that public access to the home under any arrangement would be limited.
"Of utmost importance to the Miller family and the IMA is being a good citizen and neighbor," Kalsi said. "If we decide to move forward, we will meet with each neighbor individually to ensure that the IMA builds positive relationships and has as little impact on the neighborhood as possible."
Anderson echoed those sentiments, noting that public access likely would be limited to small groups on a reservation basis.
"We don't plan on something like Falling Water," Anderson said of the Pennsylvania home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright that has become a thriving tourist attraction.
"We have used as a model the Philip Johnson Glass House in New Canaan, Conn. The last time I checked, the waiting time for a tour was a year."
Anderson also indicated an interest in minimalizing any changes to the area.
"We certainly don't want to get involved in asking for the city to make any infrastructure changes," he said. "The last thing we would want would be to create any traffic problems."
Anderson said that he initiated conversations with the Miller family about the house, which is listed as a National Historic Landmark, shortly after becoming CEO of IMA in 2006.
In May 2007 the Miller family hosted a "mini-charette" to discuss possible future uses for the home.
The gathering included family members, IMA, Columbus Area Visitors Center, the Heritage Fund: the Community Foundation of Bartholomew County and noted architects including Robert Stern, landscape expert Michael Van Valkenburgh and historians including Jim Vaughn.
Near the end of the year, negotiations had progressed to the point of exploring the gifting of the property to IMA contingent on an assurance that adequate funds could be raised to endow its maintenance and programs for public purposes.
In June, the family and the IMA board of governors approved a plan for IMA to do an internal analysis of its becoming the long-term stewards of the Miller house and gardens.