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| Philip Johnson Glass House | |
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| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
 Glass House
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| Location: | 798-856 Ponus Ridge Road, New Canaan, Connecticut |
| Coordinates: | |
| Built/Founded: | 1949 |
| Architect: | Philip Cortelyou Johnson |
| Architectural style(s): | Modern Movement |
| Added to NRHP: | February 18, 19971 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 97000341 |
| Governing body: | National Trust for Historic Preservation |
The Glass House or Johnson house, built in 1949 in New Canaan, Connecticut, was designed by Philip Johnson as his own residence and is a masterpiece in the use of glass. It was an important and influential project for Johnson and his associate Richard Foster, and for modern architecture. The building is an essay in minimal structure, geometry, proportion, and the effects of transparency and reflection.
The house is mostly hidden from the public view. It is located behind a stone wall at the edge of a crest in Johnson’s estate overlooking a pond. Johnson's rambling 47-acre (190,000 m2) estate also includes ten other buildings that Johnson either built or refined including the gate house ("Da Monsta", 1995), painting gallery (1965), sculpture gallery (1970) and guest house (1949-1950). The exterior sides of the Glass House are charcoal-painted steel and glass. The brick floor is about 10 inches above the ground. The interior is open with the space divided by low walnut cabinets; a brick cylinder contains the bathroom and is the only object to reach floor to ceiling. The house builds on ideas of German architects from the 1920s ("Glasarchitektur"). In a house of glass, the views of the landscape are its real “walls”. The house is often compared to Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House.
It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1997.23 The house was the place of Philip Johnson's passing in January 2005. After Johnson's death the Glass House passed to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which opened it to visitors in April 2007.
Gallery
 Visitor center in downtown New Canaan |
 The Glass House Visitors Center glass door |
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23).
- ^ "Philip Johnson Glass House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
- ^ National Historic Landmark Nomination: Philip Johnson Glass HousePDF (151 KiB), National Park Service, , 19 and Accompanying 18 photos, exterior, from 1996 and undated.PDF (2.74 MiB)
External links
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