Miller House, Columbus, Indiana J Irwin Miller's home in Columbus, Indiana, a modernist masterpiece designed by Eero Saarinen in 1953, opened to the public on the 10th of May 2011 following a three-year refurbishment. The house was gifted to the Museum of Indianapolis in 2008.   Eero Saarinen designed house Thanks to J Irwin Miller, Columbus is not your average mid-west town: it has over 70 buildings by noted modern architects with an elementary school designed by Richard Meier, a library by I M Pei and and fire station by Robert Venturi, as well as public art by Henry Moore and Jena Tinguely.   From the 1950s to the 1970s, the industrialist and philanthropist offered to pay architects' fees for Columbus businesses and municipal departments as long as they selected architects from his list. The result is a town that National Geographic Traveller ranked as America's most significant historic place on the strength of its architectural heritage. American modernist house Eero Saarinen Dining Table and Chairs Miller's 8,000 square foot house was fitted with state of the art gadgets such as a dining table inset with a bubbling fountain and a motorised metailic-print curtain as a room divider. The walls were floor to ceiling marble.  Fabric designer, Alexander Girard worked on the interior of the house, Dan Kiley was the landscape architect with Xenia, Miller's wife also having a significant role in the design.

J Irwin Miller's interests were not confined to architecture: as a lay leader for the ecumenical church he was active in the civil rights movement and was chair of a body that helped sponsor Martin Luther King Jr's March to Washington.