MILLER continued from 43 expansion features a multi-purpose area where people hold meetings and host baby showers, but it also needed wall surface on which art can be hung easily, and its flooring needed to be tough enough to withstand the roughly 10,000 annual visitors.
She described Miller as a very warm person who really listens to his clients and thinks a lot about how everything fits together, from the interior and where to place what kinds of light fixtures to the exterior and how things look from different angles and whether the design fits into its surroundings.
Sharing some photos at the studio. photo by Boris Ladwig
Steve and Anne in their historic Nashville home. photo by Cindy Steele
Miller said that he is very“ right-brained” during the design process, focusing on intuition. Before beginning his sketches, he typically walks around an area to get a feel for the sunlight, the slope, the views and then conjures in his mind something that fits organically into the landscape, something that preserves the site’ s natural beauty.
Brown County Inn owner Barry Herring moved to Brown County with his wife, Debbie, about 11 years ago. The couple had some land about 15 minutes north of Nashville where they had a cabin they had used for getaways while living in Chicago, where Herring worked as a shopping center developer. The couple had approached architects in Indianapolis for their Brown County home, and even got designs and a small model, but it didn’ t mesh with their vision.
Herring said the couple sat down with Miller, of whom they had heard through word of mouth, and knew after their first meeting that they had found the architect of their dream home.
Herring said that he remembered being impressed by Miller’ s sketching skills. Herring and his wife struggled a bit to describe what they wanted, almost as if trying to articulate a feeling, but as they were sitting at a table, Miller began to sketch.
The Herrings’ home looks out over a 10-acre field with a lake. The property also features rolling hills and wooded areas, in which the couple ride golf carts, hunt for mushrooms and ginseng, and tap trees for maple syrup.
These days Miller spends about half his time working on residences and the other half on shops, churches, and other nonresidential structures.
The architect and his wife Anne, a stained glass artist, inherited his grandfather’ s home and still live there. Anne creates her glass designs in the more than a hundred-year-old studio where the impressionist painter worked, and where Steve started his career.
The Millers occasionally go scuba diving and sailing in the Caribbean or visiting mountains out West with their children and grandchildren, but they remain firmly rooted in southern Indiana. They still go on hikes in Brown County or look for nests of great blue herons along the Salt Creek.
Miller said he plans to continue designing so long as he remains healthy.
“ There’ s still more to do,” he said. •
46 Our Brown County • May / June 2022