Hoosier daddy

(These first pics are for my sibs who read this blog)

We detoured to Paulding, Ohio to see my grandmother's and great Aunt's houses.

Grandmother's house on Main

Aunt Bebe's house on North Williams

The bus garage.  My grandfather ran a bus line between Toldeo and Fort Wayne.

Then on to the modern architecture Mecca of Columbus, Indiana to meet my sister Peg and her architecture grad student son Steven, who was incredibly helpful and knowledgeable on our tour of Columbus.

Columbus is a marvel of modern architecture, thanks to the family that owns the Cummins Engine Company, based in Columbus.  The family was an early supporter of modern architecture and hired Eero Saarinen to design the Irwin Union Bank, the North Christian Church, and their home, the Miller House, described by Travel and Leisure as "Americas most significant modernist home".

Eventually the Cummins Engine Company and family set up the Cummins Foundation to pay for architects fees for public buildings, as long as the architect was chosen from a list of prominent architects provided by the Foundation.

There are SEVEN National Historic Landmarks,  FIVE AIA Architecture Honor Award buildings, and EIGHT AIA Gold Medal winners in Columbius, and FOUR Pritzker Architecture Prize winners with work in Columbus.

Here are pics of significant works with a brief note:

Irwin Union Bank. 1954. Eero Saarinen

National Historic Landmark

First Christian Church. 1942. Eliel Saarinen.

National Historic Landmark

The Republic.  1971. Myron Goldsmith

National Historic Landmark

North Christian Church. 1964. Eero Saarinen

National Historic Landmark

First Baptist Church. 1965. Harry Weese

National Historic Landmark

The Miller House.  1957. Eero Saarinen

National Historic Landmark

(No tours today, and they don't tell you the address, but we found it.  Thank you Siri)

Large Arch.  1971. Henry Moore.

And my sister and nephew too.

St. Peter's Luthern Church. 1988 Gunnar Birkerts

U.S. Post Office. 1970. Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo

City Hall. 1981. Edward Charles Bassett

North side Middle School.  1961. Harry Weese

Cummins Corporate Office Building. 1984. Kevin Roche

Lincoln Elementary School. 1967. Gunnar Birkerts

AIA Honor Award

301 Washington Street. 1972. Alexander Girard

The Commons. 2011. Fred Koettner and Susie Kim

Veterans Memorial. 1997. Maryann Thompson, Charles Rose

St. Bartholomew Catholic Church. 2002. Steven R. Risting (a professor of my nephew's)

County courthouse.

We saw only a small fraction of the great architecture in Columbus, but after a long day of touring we stopped for a nice cream at an ice cream parlor that has been open since 1900

All four of us loved Columbus, an absolute jewel of the Mid-West.

After saying goodbye to my sister and nephew we then drove to Bloomington, home of Indiana University, and also home of my wonderful friend of 30 years Michael and his partner Gary. 

Michael is an absolute love, so full of life and joy, always happy and fun.  He makes me laugh like no one else.

Michael and Gary took us to dinner in downtown Bloomington, yet another wonderful town.  We laughed all thru dinner and had a marvelous time.

We ended the day at sunset with a tour of their beautiful farm, and we met Gary's son Eric and their two adorable Jack Russell terriers and two horses.  

It was great to catch up with Michael;  I am so fortunate to have a close, lifelong friend in him.  He is one in a million, and so is Gary.