THE 2,100-SQUARE-FOOT midcentury modern home in Sylvan Estates had seen better days when Todd Eads purchased it in 2015. Originally built as the centerpiece for the 1961 Indiana Home Show, the three-bedroom marvel of limestone and rare pecky cypress was disassembled after its state fairground run and carefully reconstructed like a modernist puzzle on its current lot.
Indianapolis architect Harry Cooler, who studied under Frank Lloyd Wright, designed the home utilizing the classic clean lines and open concept aesthetic of the organic architecture movement.
Cooler’s work saw a spike of interest a few years ago when one of his projects in Greenwood, the stunning Mills House, was restored to its original glory. But as with that iconic residence and so many other homes from the era of flat roofs and stark minimalism, Eads’ home was extensively remodeled over the years without regard for the original design. Yet, he loved it from the moment he stepped inside. “I could just tell it had a lot of potential,” says Eads, who is the regional vice president of leasing at Simon Property Group.
Sure enough, he started peeling away the layers of “upgrades” to find pristine details such as eight-panel solid wood entry doors with clerestory glass panels that were covered up by an aluminum door and clouded glass. Underneath carpet, he uncovered limestone and hardwood floors. Luckily, very little of Cooler’s original work was discarded. It was just a matter of unburying his treasures.
Eads even managed to return this show home—one of Westinghouse’s futuristic Gold Star Medallion all-electric residences—to the spotlight. In 2018, it was included in an Indiana Landmarks tour of midcentury modern homes.
City Blueprints
- The administration building at the former Indianapolis Airport Terminal that cooler designed with a striking flat zigzag roof
- Cooler’s glass-fronted, peak-roofed 1957 prototype for the first Burger Chef on West 16th Street
- The Mills House, now the Harry Cooler Conference Center, commissioned by Ernie and Edith Mills of Monarch Cabinetry in 1955
