View through the orchard

Though much of landscape architecture involves the careful manipulation of spaces, the gardens at Miller House represent one of the best examples of the craft. Working closely with the home’s architect, Eero Saarinen, Kiley laid out a plan which closely reflects and reinforces the strict geometry of the residence. As with his many other commissions, Mr. Kiley used a limited palette of plants. This was not to be a garden of show-stopping color and horticultural diversity.

Rather, his use of hedges – mainly arborvitae and yew – served to create architectural “rooms”, not unlike the arrangement of rooms and ‘zoned’ spaces in the pavilion-like residence. The outdoor rooms are interconnected through corridors of trees – rows and blocks of honey locusts, oaks, horsechestnuts, redbuds, and even apples – as well as large expanses of paving, both hard and soft. These rectangular forms are further enhanced by the beds beneath, whether planted in spring bulbs or summer annuals, or simply mulched. Together, these elements and the extensive use of groundcovers provide a year-round structure, so important in shaping the spaces and giving clarity.

View through White Oaks to East lawn

While this is all so obvious when looking down upon the blueprints and plans, it also comes across marvelously in a more subtle way when one enters the property on foot. Though Saarinen wished for his clients, the Millers, to enjoy the views into the landscape through his ample windows, that view is carefully and purposefully halted at the edges of the property. This is an inward-looking site, versus something like ‘Naumkeag’ in Massachusetts or Philip Johnson’s ‘Glass House’ in Connecticut, where the view to distant mountains and hills is extremely important. Tall hedges and carefully sited rows and clumps of trees prevent vistas into neighboring yards. Instead, one’s views follow a lower plane, usually beneath the limbs of trees, along the tops of low hedges, or along an allee. It’s all about the use of space, and what a space it is. What if geometry class had been as much fun as this!

South drive

I think what we’re talking about is the poetry of space, that’s what landscape design is all about. – Dan Kiley

Ed first witnessed the site decades ago while on a work assignment in Columbus.  He was then only able to peek through the already tall arborvitae hedges guarding the property’s east side, but knew the place was indeed very special.  After all, one of the 20th century’s masters of landscape design, Dan Kiley, had worked his magic here.  For all of us in the field, this is a place for reverence.

Miller House, summer 2009 (Ed Blake and Bradley Brooks on far right)

My own first encounter with Miller House and Garden was very similar, taking place on May 1st of 2007 as part of a charrette involving Miller family members and architects, landscape architects, and preservationists from around the country.  We all assembled to discuss the many attributes of the property and who might be the best stewards of the site in the future.  Part of the weekend’s program was a visit to Miller House with an insider’s tour of both home and landscape with the Miller children.

The weather on that mid-spring day couldn’t have been nicer.  A clear blue sky was the perfect complement to the lush pink blooms of the large saucer magnolias framing each side of the house.  Though some in the group had visited before, many of us knew the site only from photographs, articles, and monographs on the designers involved.  This truly was a special treat – to witness this mid-century marvel and examine it in such detail, with members of the Miller family sharing their own experiences of growing up here.  Quite a privilege, I think, for them to call this home, and for us as well to hear about that experience directly.

Magnolias at Miller House

Over the ensuing months, the IMA continued to conduct further research on the property and its three principal designers – Eero Saarinen, Alexander Girard, and Dan Kiley – to help us better understand how this place came to be and how much influence Mr. & Mrs. Miller had on its outcome.  We were, of course, elated to be the recipient of the Miller family’s generous bequest of the property and funds for an endowment.  And by pure coincidence, the transfer of the property came on May 1st of 2009, exactly two years to the day since we first laid eyes upon it.  Those same magnolias were blooming brightly once again in honor of the event.

But this just begins our serious work on the property, bringing the home, its interiors and furnishings, and its landscape into a form approximating their earlier condition.  We have a goal of opening the estate to the public two years from now.  Research in Columbus and at repositories of archived material at sites around the country will occupy the time of Bradley, Craig Miller, and me, as well as many others as we further the process of understanding this important treasure.  We’re so grateful to be able to add Miller House and Garden as another National Historic Landmark (Oldfields being the other) to the IMA’s array of historic offerings.  I invite you to stay tuned for more details on our progress.

As the IMA website indicates, we have taken official possession of the Miller House and Garden in Columbus, Indiana. This will make the second National Historic Landmark property the IMA has in its collection (Oldfields-Lilly House and Gardens being the first). How’s that for bragging rights! As a practical matter however, home ownership is not all fun and games in this situation. Ahead lies a road of challenges for the staff working on MHG teams.

Columbus is an hour’s drive south of Indy, which makes it difficult to explore the house and conduct business with the current local staff. Director of Lilly House Operations Bradley Brooks, head of our team of six, has spent a lot of time on the phone and making the trek south in the run-up to taking possession of the property. He has interacted with everyone from members of the Miller family to a nephew of  Eero Saarinen. Bradley has been, and continues to be a very busy beaver.

The task of converting a residential property into a museum showcase has been an educational experience for our team, so far. It has forced us to look at all the things we do here at the museum, a lot of which we take for granted, and formulate how to adapt and transplant these practices to a former family home fifty miles away.

Chief Registrar Katie Haigh and Conservator-in-Charge David Miller (along with more staff down the road) will need to inventory, evaluate, photograph, and catalog the entire contents of the house. Katie and David are currently working with Buildings guru Bert Reader to determine what can be done with the climate control systems to best preserve the house and its contents. And don’t forget, the house itself is a piece of art–made primarily of steel, marble and glass—so David will have to develop a list of acceptable cleaning supplies, and a schedule for keeping the house spic and span. Structural drawings, building materials, maintenance records and other information on the house and other buildings on property will need to be collected and researched to assist with preservation efforts.

Bert, Safety Manager Mindy Summers and I have been looking at the safety and security needs of the house. Needless to say, there are some interesting and quirky aspects to MHG.

It’s been an Easter egg hunt at times to find some of the security devices hidden in the many nooks and crannies, and Bert has had to deal with the Complex Issues Dept. at the phone company. Who knew? In addition to proposing some upgrades to the existing security and fire systems, we have met with Columbus fire and police personnel to discuss access issues and response procedures to ensure smooth cooperation with local agencies.

Mindy and I will take our existing procedures from the IMA, such as access lists, on-call lists and key control, and adjust them to fit the Miller House environment. We will eventually have to add other safety procedures, such as a disaster plan and a hazardous chemical inventory, to the many books that will reside at the house. After the house is reconfigured to our satisfaction (or budget limits), we will determine staffing levels, work schedules, the inventory process, lockdown procedures and other security duties to be performed.

In the meantime, Director Max Anderson, Sr. Curator of Design Arts R. Craig Miller, Director of Environmental and Historic Preservation Mark Zelonis and others will devise the plan for how to present the house to the public.

The to-do list is endless, but having another landmark property like the Miller House adds a huge feather to the IMA’s cap and broadens the art experience that we can offer to our visitors.

When I started at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in the fall of 2004, the opening of the Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park seemed so far in the future it was laughable to me that we even had meetings about it. Fall 2009 seemed like an eternity away. For God’s sake, I thought to myself, I’ll be nearly 30 years old when the park finally opens! Now with the recent proliferation of my first gray hairs, 30 doesn’t seem that far away, and with the plans for the park taking shape neither does opening day.

The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park has always seemed a bit ambiguous to me. With the solidity of the Museum and its galleries and history of Oldfields-Lilly House & Gardens, the Art & Nature Park seemed like the elusive Holy Ghost of the IMA’s trinity. Scheduled to open in the fall of 2009, The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park has a history that goes well beyond my time at the IMA. Discussions about the use of the space have been ongoing for decades. However, over the last few months, plans for the park have really come together and as we get closer and closer to the opening date, I can now see more clearly the future of the 100 acres of woodland, wetland and meadows adjacent to the Museum.

Want to learn more about the Art & Nature Park?

1. I would suggest visiting the Art & Nature Park section of the IMA’s Web site to read up on the basics. Find out what has been done already. Learn about the inaugural artists commissioned for the park. And discover some of the goals and plans for the space.

2. I highly encourage you to come to the Art & Nature Park Public Forum tonight at 7:30 PM at the IMA. Here’s the official description of the event: Maxwell L. Anderson, the Melvin & Bren Simon Director and CEO of the IMA, will welcome the audience and give an overview of the vision for the Park. Mark Zelonis, the Ruth Lilly Deputy Director of Environmental and Historic Preservation, will present an overview of the nature found at the site. Lisa D. Freiman, senior curator of contemporary art and director of the Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park, will present an overview of the artist projects and the visitor center.

Following these brief presentations, those present will have the chance to ask questions of key players about plans for the park. Special guests will include representatives from neighborhood groups and representatives from environmental organizations.

3. I would love for you to share your thoughts on our blog. Let’s start an online dialogue about The Park. To date, what have been your experiences with The Park? What interests you the most about the space? What are your concerns and comments about the project? Please feel free to share your thoughts here.