Philip Johnson’s Glass House

Would you live in a glass house for over 55 years? Renowned architect Philip Johnson spent the majority of his life living in his most notable modern architectural landmark. The Glass House sits on a 47 acre property in New Canaan, Connecticut, quietly tucked away from the prying eyes of passersby, albeit Johnson just barely missed the advent of Google Earth.

What makes the Glass House so sublime is the history of the place, along with the architects and cultural masters that have had a part in the development of the house. Below is a description from those currently responsible for the maintenance of the place:

The Glass house is best understood as a pavilion for viewing the surrounding landscape. Invisible from the road, the house sits on a promontory overlooking a pond with views towards the woods beyond. Each of the four exterior walls is punctuated by a centrally located glass door that opens onto the landscape.

The house, which ushered the International Style into residential American architecture, is iconic because of its innovative use of materials and its seamless integration into the landscape. Johnson, who lived in the Glass House from 1949 until his death in 2005, conceived of it as half a composition, completed by the neighboring Brick House.

Since its completion in 1949, the building and décor have not strayed from their original design. Most of the furniture came from Johnson’s New York apartment designed in 1930 by Mies van der Rone. In fact, Mies designed the iconic Glass House daybed specifically for Johnson. A seventeenth century painting attributed to Nicolas Poussin graces the living room.

The image, Burial of Phocion, depicts a classical landscape and was selected specifically for the house by Alfred H. Barr, Jr., the first director of The Museum of Modern Art. The sculpture by Elie Nadelman is a small version of a marble sculpture that is round in the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center designed by Johnson in 1964.

You are welcome to visit the house and enjoy a piece of architectural history from now until November 30th, 2011. More images of the place and its notable guests are in the link to the left.

For more information, CLICK HERE for the Glass House website.

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