The T. C. Steele State Historic Site (also called the Theodore Clement Steele House and Studio, and named the House of the Singing Winds by its original owners) is located in rural Brown County, Indiana, one and a half miles south of Belmont, between Bloomington and Nashville, Indiana. The property was the studio and home of Hoosier Group landscape and portrait artist Theodore Clement Steele (1847–1926) and Selma Neubacher Steele (1870–1945), the artist's second wife. Shortly before her death in 1945, Selma donated the property on of land to the Indiana Department of Conservation (the present-day Indiana Department of Natural Resources) to establish a state historic site in memory of her husband. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 as the Theodore Clement Steele House and Studio. The Indiana State Museum operates the historic site, which is open to the public and offers guided tours of the home and studio.
History
The artist
Theodore Clement Steele (1847–1926) was a member of the famous Hoosier Group of American regional impressionist painters that also included William Forsyth, J. Ottis Adams, Richard B. Gruelle, and Otto Stark. Born in Owen County, Indiana, Steele began studying art at an early age. He attended Waveland Collegiate Institute in Montgomery County, Indiana, and briefly studied painting in Chicago and Cincinnati before moving to Indianapolis to become a portrait painter. Steele spent five years (1880–85) studying art at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, before returning to Indianapolis to resume his career. Although Steele made his living painting portraits, he is best known for his landscapes.
Steele was elected an Associate Artist to the National Academy of Design in New York City in 1913, confirming his standing as the most famous Hoosier artist of his time. Steele was also a former president of the Society of Western Artists. Steele's work has been exhibited across the United States. Three of his paintings were accepted into the prestigious Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, California, in 1915. In 1916 Steele was awarded an honorary doctorate from Indiana University.
Studio and home
Around 1905–06, while Steele was exploring new landscapes to paint, he discovered a scenic and isolated area of Brown County, Indiana. In 1907 he purchased of land approximately one and a half miles south of Belmont, between Bloomington and Nashville, Indiana, and had a hilltop studio and home built on the property. Steele moved into the new summer residence with Selma Neubacher Steele, his second wife, in August 1907.
Steele and his wife developed the property slowly, over time. In 1911 they purchased additional acreage to increase their property to of land, and made further improvements that included an enlarged home surrounded by beautiful gardens, a barn-sized studio and art gallery, and several other outbuildings. The site became their year-round residence in 1912. Although the property in rural Brown County remained Steele's primary residence, he maintained a studio in Indianapolis. Beginning in 1922, when Steele was named IU's artist-in-residence, he also maintained a winter home in Bloomington and a studio on the school's campus.
Following Steele's death in 1926, Selma and her sister, Edith Newbacher, continued to reside on the Brown County property, but they struggled financially. Selma managed the artist's studio, rented out cabins on the property, and sold farm produce and her husband's paintings to earn cash. Selma also established a small museum in a log cabin that she had moved to the property and charged admission for studio tours.
In July 1945 Selma donated the Brown County property of more than to the Indiana Department of Conservation (the present-day Indiana Department of Natural Resources) to establish the historic site in her husband's honor. The property included the house, its furnishings and decorative arts, a large studio, other outbuildings and structures, and more than 300 of her husband's paintings. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 as the Theodore Clement Steele House and Studio.
State historic site
The T. C. Steele State Historic Site, the property's present-day name, offers visitors guided tours of the home and large studio. It is open to the public, Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The 211-acre property includes several structures, landscaped grounds and gardens, five hiking trails, and a nature preserve.