As April rolls in, it’s time once again for the 51st Annual St. Margaret’s Hospital Guild Decorator’s Show House and Gardens. The Decorator’s Show House and Gardens is the longest running show house in the country. It is the primary fundraising event for the Guild and benefits Wishard Hospital in various ways.

A little bit about SMG from their website:

Since St. Margaret’s Hospital Guild was founded in 1907, our projects have resulted in over $10 million being raised for Wishard Health Services. Over our 100-year history, we have contributed to the following programs:

1. Funded the St. Margaret’s Center for Breast Health
2. Provided funding for the Wishard Burn Unit
3. Pallative Care (End of Life Care)
4. Women’s Cancer Support Group
5. Domestic Violence Program Designed to Support and Educate

As you can see, the Guild plays an important part in the programs through Wishard Hospital. There are a lot of ladies that volunteer a lot of time to make sure that the show house runs without a hitch.

This year’s show house is different for us as we are participating in the event for the first time in our short history. We have decorated the rear entry hall and guest powder bathroom and are honored to have been selected to participate this year. This year’s home is one of the largest homes ever in the history of this event.

With all that being said, we wanted to present you with a little history of this year’s show house as provided by the St. Margaret’s Hospital Guild. This history was provided by the Guild via their Facebook fan page. We hope you’ll enjoy learning about this year’s home. Daily public tours of the show house run April 28th through May 13th. Tickets are $20 at the door, $17 for Seniors (65+). Check out their website for further details, including the special events that are being held at the house this year.

The original residence on the property (one of four) was at 7077 North Meridian Street and remains as the northwest portion of the current home. It is believed to have been built between 1937 and 1938 by Edna and Julius H. Erbrich. Mr. Erbrich was president of the J.H. Erbrich Products Company in Indianapolis, which distributed food products. The Erbrichs lived at 7077 N. Meridian St. until approximately 1944.

The next owners, Jacob and Goldie Lutz lived in the house for only two years. Mr. Lutz was the owner of Lutz Canning Company in Indianapolis.

The couple most associated with the early history of 7077 North Meridian Street was Zilpha and Edward B. Newill. They lived in the house between 1946 and the late 1970s. Mr. Newill was a vice president of General Motors Corporation and was general manager of the Allison Division in Indianapolis from 1944 until his retirement in 1960. During Mr. Newill’s tenure, Allison emphasized development of turbo-prop and jet engines for military use. All three of the Newill’s sons also worked for General Motors divisions through the 1950s.

The next owners of the property, between 1977 and 1990, were Dr. Newell Pugh, Jr. and his wife Marie. Dr. Pugh was a physician at Methodist Hospital during the 1980s.

The next owner for a brief period of one year, was Professor James Q. Mulholland, a professor of Composition at Butler University.

In September 1991, Frank E. McKinney, Jr., Chairman and CEO of American Fletcher National Bank, later Bank One Indiana, acquired the property along with his wife, Marianne. During that time, the entrance to the property was moved from Meridian Street and became known as Five East Seventy-first Street. Mr. McKinney also purchased and took down the property immediately to the south of 7077 North Meridian Street so he would have room to add an Olympic length swimming pool. As a former Olympic gold medalist in swimming, he liked to swim laps daily. Mr. McKinney planned to make substantial changes and additions to the original residence, but tragically he died in a plane crash in 1992. Construction of the planned design was halted and the McKinney’s never lived in the house as a couple. Following Mr. McKinney’s death, Marianne became the sole owner. She completed more modest changes to the property, enabling her to live there alone until 1995.

In 1995, Marianne McKinney married Eli Lilly and Company Chairman, President and CEO Randall L. Tobias. Mr. Tobias initially purchased a 50% interest in the property from Marianne. He also acquired the homes immediately south of the property on Meridian Street and immediately east of the property on Seventy-first Street when they came on the market. Both homes were taken down to expand the grounds, to provide a more appropriate footprint for the residence, and to add a tennis court, gardens, garage space and parking. The entire interior was renovated and the infrastructure modernized by Leonard Watson, with care given to preserving and restoring the original 1938 architecture. An additional 2500 square feet were also added to the residence at the same time, with great attention directed to harmonizing the additions with the original residence design. In 2009 Mr. Tobias purchased Marianne’s interest in the property, and in 2010 he gifted Tobias House to the Indiana University Foundation for the use of Indiana University.

This year’s show house is located at 5 West 71st Street, Indianapolis, IN. We hope you’ll get a chance to check it out and support a great cause.