Today we are posting the first document in our “No Detail Too Small” series. As we digitize the materials associated with the Miller House and Garden, we’ve noticed the Millers’ attention to detail is, um, remarkable. Mrs. Miller wanted a permanent location for the can opener & paper towel roll so that neither “becomes a permanent nuisance.”

J. Irwin Miller to Kevin Roche, 13 April 1956, 1/6 Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana. (MHG_Ia_B001_f006_042)

Nearly all of the original seating at the Miller House was designed by Ray and Charles Eames and was manufactured by Herman Miller. This shipping record is for 28 chairs  from Herman Miller in Venice, California to the Millers in Columbus, Indiana.

Southern Transportation shipping record for Herman Miller Furniture, 27 April 1956, 1/5, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana. (MHG_Ia_B001_f005_039)

Seven months before the Millers moved into their new home, Girard sent a progress report. Among the many updates, Girard describes the marble slab for the dining room buffet as “out of this world” and stresses a solution must be found for the living room fireplace design.

Alexander H. Girard to J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller, 30 August 1956, 1/5, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana. (MHG_Ia_B001_f005_002-003)

Georg Jensen’s Milton Monas wrote to Mr. Miller about the missing salt shakers from a shipment of what was supposed to be 24 salt and pepper shakers. 

Milton Monas to J. Irwin Miller, 26 November 1956, 1/4, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana. (MHG_Ia_B001_f004_018)

Ernest LoNano’s company made the original cushions and slip covers for the conversation pit. LoNano also made pit pillows, bedspreads, and curtains for the Millers. Mr. Malfatti’s scheduled visit to Columbus was to measure for the curtains.

Joseph J. Hennessey to Wanda Truitt, 22 June 1956, 1/5, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana. (MHG_Ia_B001_f005_064)

As this letter makes clear, the Steinway piano was custom made for the Millers, and it fullfilled Mr. Miller’s wish “to have a bigger tone piano than a fellow feels he can have.” Although the Steinway Contemporary (designed by Walter Dorwin Teague) was manufactured as a Medium Grand piano, the Millers’ piano is a Music Room Grand piano.

Frank O. Wilking to J. Irwin Miller, 11 May 1956, 1/3, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana. (MHG_Ia_B001_f003_031)

Girard writes to Irwin Miller on a range of topics including Steinway pianos, “Junior Miller No. 5,” a new Eames chair design, and china Girard designed for Georg Jensen. 

Alexander H. Girard to J. Irwin Miller, 10 April 1956, 1/6, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana. (MHG_Ia_B001_f006_039-041)

As the Millers planned their new home, Irwin Miller wrote to Girard about selecting pianos for both the living room and the children’s playroom. He writes, “We have a large living room and I should like to take advantage of this to have a bigger tone piano than a fellow usually feels he can have in his private home.”

J. Irwin Miller to Alexander H. Girard, 26 March 1956, 1/6, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis, Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana. (MHG_Ia_B001_f006_050)

The Millers had commissioned Eero Saarinen in 1950 to design their summer cottage in Muskoka, Ontario. In this letter, J. Irwin Miller thanks Joseph Lacy (of Saarinen’s office) for his prompt reply about modifying the Muskoka house’s breakfast porch and also congratulates Saarinen for being chosen to design the U.S. Embassy in London’s Grosvenor Square.

J. Irwin Miller to Joseph N. Lacy, 22 February 1956, 1/6, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana. (MHG_Ia_B001_f006_068)

“Eames sofa makes me tremble in my boots, ” writes Girard in response to Irwin Miller’s January 5 letter. 

Alexander H. Girard to J. Irwin Miller, 26 January 1956, 1/6, Miller House and Garden Collection, IMA Archives, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, Indiana. (MHG_Ia_B001_f006_082-083)