Saarinen's Miller House to be Part of IMA

Maxwell L. Anderson, The Melvin & Bren Simon Director and CEO of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, announced today that the IMA is moving forward with the acquisition of the landmark Miller House and Garden in Columbus, Indiana. One of the country’s most highly-regarded examples of mid-century Modernist residences, the Miller House was designed by Eero Saarinen, with interiors by Alexander Girard, and landscape design by Daniel Urban Kiley.

Members of the Miller family and the Irwin-Sweeney-Miller Foundation have agreed to donate the house and gardens, along with many of its original furnishings, to the Museum, and have pledged $5 million toward an $8 million endowment for the house and surrounding grounds.

The IMA is raising $3 million for the remainder of the endowment and $2 million for the 18-month renovation of the house, which will entail a careful restoration of many of the original period details. Once the renovation is completed, the IMA will work with the Columbus Area Visitors Center to offer public access to the house and gardens.