Tarkington home chosen as Decorators' Show House

Tarkington home is guild's project for second time

Posted: September 26, 2009

Two-time Pulitzer prize-winning author Booth Tarkington once lived in the home that has been selected as the 2010 Decorators' Show House.

The Show House is sponsored annually by St. Margaret's Hospital Guild, a non-profit volunteer organization committed to raising funds for Wishard Health Services. The Decorators' Show House marks its 49th year in 2010, making it the longest consecutive-running -- and oldest -- show house event in the country, said Terry Holland, general chairwoman.

The former home of Tarkington, at 4270 N. Meridian St., was also the 1985 Show House. It was chosen after committee members toured a number of locations.

Criteria for selection included two staircases and homeowners who were willing to relocate during the five months of preparation.

"A lot comes down to timing of the homeowners. If they are ready to do renovations, and what their family schedule is like. They need to be willing to give up their home from January to mid-May," said Holland.

More than 50 designers will work on 15 landscape and 34 interior areas for public tours from April 24 through May 9. Last year's Show House raised more than $240,000.

The 11,000-square-foot home, built in 1911, was purchased by Tarkington in 1923. The author of "The Magnificent Ambersons" and "Alice Adams" lived there until his death in 1946. A large third-floor area where Tarkington maintained office space and did most of his writing will be part of the tour.

Later occupants included Frederick Willkie, brother of Wendell Lewis Willkie, 1940 presidential nominee who lost to Franklin D. Roosevelt; and James Mulholland, local composer. Present owners are Doris Anne Sadler, former Marion County Clerk, and her husband, Tim Sadler. They purchased the home in 2008.

The home, its design influenced by both Tudor and Craftsman styles, is part of the historic Meridian-Kessler neighborhood. The area, on the National Register of Historic Places, was established by the city's leading architects in the 1920s.

Public tours will offer a "preview" of the Decorators' Show House Jan. 30 and 31.

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Call Star reporter T.J. Banes at (317) 444-6815.