INDIANAPOLIS — Preparations for the St. Margaret’s Hospital Guild 60th Anniversary Decorators’ Show House and Gardens are underway and will be ready for public tours beginning Saturday, April 24 through Mother’s Day, May 9. Twenty-two local interior designers, 5 landscape designers, their support teams, and the members of St. Margaret’s Hospital Guild are hard at work refurbishing The Columns on Meridian home and its surrounding property. The home is located at 5417 N. Meridian St.
The home features just under 8,000 square feet of beautiful architecture and design. This 100% volunteer initiative has raised nearly $13.5 million for the city’s public hospital, Eskenazi Health, and is the country’s longest running decorator show house event. All ticket and tour proceeds benefit the programs at Eskenazi Health.
Hours will be Tuesdays-Sundays from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. and Thursdays from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tickets must be purchased in advance online at showhouseindy.org and cost $30 each,$15 for children 5-12. Groups of 15 or more may have exclusive access to the show house (e-mail Lisa Booher at GroupticketsDSHG1908@gmail.com for more information on group sales). Tickets are only good for reserved times. When on the property, face masks must be worn at all times and social distancing will be enforced. Tickets are non-refundable.
The house was built in 1929-1930 by the Schoen-Morgan Company and is a two-story Colonial style home. With six bedrooms, five-and-a-half baths measures 7,646 square feet. The first owners were Willis Meredith Nicholson, Sr. and his wife Eugenie, who moved there in 1930. Nicholson was a well-known author, poet, journalis, and diplomat. In 1933, it was sould to Warren Charles Fairbanks and his wife Helen; he was the eldest son of U.S. Vice President Charles Warren Fairbanks.
The house has changed hands several times, with the tenth owners currently in residence as Mark Graham and his wife Susan. Thanks to their generosity, the house is available for viewing as this year’s Decorator’s Show House.
Proceeds from the Decorators’ Show House and Gardens allow St. Margaret’s Hospital Guild (SMHG) to provide equipment and special programs for patients at Eskenazi Health. The Guild has funded the Burn Unit, sponsored two mammography clinics, allowed for department renovations, initiated Mother’s Milk Bank, and provided “Protecting our Children” materials.
SMHG has provided summer group therapy at Midtown Children’s Center, underwritten childbirth classes focusing on areas of highest infant mortality, purchased golf carts to help patients navigate the hospital campus, and supported the Haven of Hope with forensic medical supplies.
The Guild has helped build raised garden beds for patients’ use in the Sky Garden, supported Healthy Me for children, funded the Limestone Falls at the Common ground, and purchased an eight-vehicle fleet, including two ADA-accessible vans for use by Sandra Eskenazi Mental Health Center. Funds earned from the Decorators’ Show House and Gardens also provided support for the Sandra Eskenazi Center for Brain Care Innovation.
Most recently, the Guild has pledged a three-year commitment to support the Center for Nursing Excellence at Eskenazi Health. Proceeds from the 2021 Decorators’ Show House and Gardens will be the third gift of this commitment.
