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Columbus philanthropist J. Irwin Miller's family is poised to donate his majestic home to the Indianapolis Museum of Art, provided it can raise millions of dollars to maintain the sprawling Bartholomew County property.
IMA board members have given CEO Maxwell Anderson the go-ahead to seek funding for an endowment to care for the home.
He isn't sure yet exactly how much will need to be raised, but Anderson estimated it will be less than $10 million. Determining a figure and enlisting local and national donors will take several months.
Landing the architectural gem would be a major coup for the museum. Architect Eero Saarinen, whose works include the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C, designed the house in 1957.
Miller, who died in 2004 at age 95, built Cummins Engine Co. into a Fortune 500 company. But perhaps his most defining contribution to Columbus was his 1954 decision to establish the Cummins Foundation, which paid architects to design new public buildings, ultimately transforming the city into a showcase for modem architecture.
Besides upkeep, funds the IMA raises for the Miller home would be used to make the structure handicap accessible and to purchase vintage furniture and decor.
"There are lots of museums that have historic houses in their collections," Anderson said. "But very few of them could lay claim to a house of this international importance."
IMA's Michigan Road campus already is home to the 26-acre Lilly House and Gardens, a. 22-room mansion that...