Glass House

This article is about the Philip Johnson house. For other uses, see Glass house (disambiguation).

Glass House
Map
Interactive map showing the house's location
Location798–856 Ponus Ridge Road, New Canaan, Connecticut
Coordinates41°8′32.73″N 73°31′45.84″W / 41.1424250°N 73.5294000°W / 41.1424250; -73.5294000
Public transit accessMainline rail interchange New Canaan
Websitetheglasshouse.org
Philip Johnson Glass House
Glass House is located in Connecticut
Glass House
Glass House is located in the United States
Glass House
Built1947-1949
ArchitectPhilip Johnson
Architectural styleModern
NRHP reference No.97000341
Significant dates
Added to NRHPFebruary 18, 1997[1]
Designated NHLDFebruary 18, 1997[2]

The Glass House (or Johnson house) is a historic house museum on Ponus Ridge Road in New Canaan, Connecticut, built in 1948–49. It was designed by architect Philip Johnson as his own residence. The New York Times has called the Glass House his "signature work".[3]

According to Alice T. Friedman, the Glass House may be derived from the Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois, by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe; however, the Farnsworth House was not completed until 1951, two years after the Glass House. Johnson curated an exhibit of Mies van der Rohe work at the Museum of Modern Art in 1947, featuring a model of the glass Farnsworth House.[4] It was an important and influential project for Johnson and for modern architecture. The building is an example of minimal structure, geometry, proportion, and the effects of transparency and reflection. The estate includes other buildings designed by Johnson that span his career. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997. It is now owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is open to the public for guided tours, which begin at a visitors center at 199 Elm Street in New Canaan.

The house is an example of early use of industrial materials in home design, such as glass and steel. Johnson lived at the weekend retreat for 58 years; 45 years with his long time companion David Whitney, an art critic and curator who helped design the landscaping and largely collected the art displayed there.[5][6][7][8]

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference nhlsum was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Stevens, Mark (January 31, 2005). "Form Follows Fascism". The New York Times.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference atf was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ The Glass House, David Whitney, Portrait of a Curator as a Young Man Archived 2011-10-11 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Pierce, Lisa, "Through the Looking Glass", August 1, 2010, pp 1, A4, The Advocate of Stamford, Connecticut
  7. ^ Gutoff, Bija, "Philip Johnson: A Glass House Opens", at Apple website, no date given, retrieved August 8, 2010 Archived February 8, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Mason, Christopher, "Behind the Glass Wall", June 7, 2007, New York Times, retrieved August 8, 2010