The Glass House | Message from the Director

February 2, 2012

I am pleased to announce that The Glass House will have a new director, Henry Urbach.

Henry most recently served as Curator of Architecture and Design at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), where his exhibitions were widely lauded. Mr. Urbach left SFMOMA in May 2011 to pursue independent writing and curatorial work, including research toward a project about the Glass House compound as a laboratory for curatorial experimentation.

Henry began his career as a project management associate at Carnegie Hall, during the period of its restoration and renovation, foreshadowing a career dedicated to producing spaces that support creative labor and its power to inspire. He holds a degree in History and Theory of Architecture from Princeton University (AB 1984 Magna Cum Laude), a Master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (M.Arch. 1990), and a Master of Arts in History and Theory of Architecture from Princeton University.

He has taught and published extensively in the fields of architecture, art, design, and culture with writings that encompass theory, criticism, and journalism; and he has taught at numerous schools of architecture.

In 1997, Henry launched Henry Urbach Architecture, a unique New York-based gallery committed to joining the worlds of contemporary art and experimental architecture. He ran this business for nearly ten years, achieving international recognition.

I met Henry last spring and was struck by his energy and enthusiasm for the site. He seems to me ideal to lead the dedicated Glass House team into even more innovative and exciting programmatic terrain, and to push restoration programs on track. I congratulate Henry, and also Estevan Rael-Gálvez, Vice President of Sites at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, on his astute choice.

Henry’s tenure will commence on April 2.

Rena Zurofsky

Interim Director, Philip Johnson Glass House
____________________________________________________________________

January 9, 2011

Happy New Year!

I write as air finally chills with winter, although the ground remains resolutely brown, denying the season its romance. The Glass House site is closed to the public until May 2nd. However, the staff is hard at work with many off-season projects.

Here is a look at how we spend the winter:

Our property manager and his crew are still cleaning the woods of the debris left by Hurricane Irene and the Halloween Weekend Snowstorm. They’ve already completed repairs from a leak in the Library/Study (thanks to the revenues from sales of the new book, The Library of Philip Johnson, published by Birch Books to benefit the Library/Study and book conservation!). With the Glass House curator and preservation consultant, they are costing out a new roof for the Painting Gallery, for which funds will need to be raised.

Our finance office is closing the books on 2011 and finalizing the budget for 2012, working closely with all of the staff to ensure that new initiatives are adequately planned for.

Our curator is also working new essays to enhance the Glass House website. In the coming months, look for essays about conservation of various artworks, as well new research on our wonderful collection of Frank Stella’s works. Last year, our website had 500,000 views!

Our program experts are deep in the throes of new season planning. Potential new guides are being interviewed and guide education planned for our new and returning team. Changes to the tour schedule are being discussed. The second season of Conversations in Context is being hammered out. 2012 On-line Glass House Conversations are also being reserved. Last year, over 20,000 people viewed these Conversations, and anyone can participate! A second co-hosted lecture at the New Canaan Library will occur on February 12 with Hicks Stone. More programs will be announced soon, as will some New York City based lectures during our off-season.

Special events are in the planning, including a second Dine with Design event. If you missed the first one, don’t miss this year—although we know lots of attendees will be coming back! This event features excellent food and the opportunity to walk the site on your own or with friends. The date will be announced soon.

Our Public Relations professional remains constantly vigilant. Last year, The Glass House was featured or mentioned in 130 international publications and websites. We plan to keep meriting all that attention!

Fundraisers, of course, never sleep. In 2012 we need to raise more money than ever to meet our goals. We hope to grow our pool of friends, corporate partners and sponsors, and foundations. If you’d like to help jump-start this 2012 effort, please do!

Last but not least, our parent organization, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is almost ready to reveal the name of the new Executive Director of the Glass House. Watch our website for an announcement very soon.

Rena Zurofsky

Interim Director, Philip Johnson Glass House
____________________________________________________________________

November 16, 2011

As our tour season winds down to its November 30 close, we keep active. In the past few weeks we’ve announced some wonderful collaborations which will stretch through the holidays, and some of them beyond.

For any of you in the greater metropolitan area, please don’t miss the exquisite exhibition of James Welling’s Glass House photographs on view in the lobby of the Four Seasons Restaurant through January 2, 2012. A collaboration between The Glass House, David Zwirner, and the Four Seasons, all photographs are offered for sale, with a large percentage benefitting The Glass House.

Entering the lobby is free, so don’t hesitate to see this beautiful show. Plus, a short turn to the ladies’ room will give you an intimate view of the same Fortuny fabric that Philip Johnson used in the Brick House, currently closed pending restoration. Johnson often used the same materials on his projects (he designed the Four Seasons restaurant, and partnered with Mies van Der Rohe on the entire Seagram’s building), the Library/Study has carpeting originally used at the Four Seasons as well. The succulent garden, which can be viewed during our landscape tours, is built on a foundation of the same pink granite used for the AT&T, now Sony building.

Please don’t stop at the Lobby, though. You can see more of Johnson’s elegant design work while sipping a Johnson-style classic martini at the upstairs bar. Or better yet, purchase our wonderful deal pairing a tour of the Glass House with a meal at the Four Seasons. You can enjoy a feast this holiday season, and claim your tour in 2012.

The Glass House recently celebrated another special event at the Four Seasons: the publication of a seminal study of The Library of Philip Johnson. Written by Birch Cooper and Jordan Hruska, this limited edition book examines 100 titles in Johnson’s Library/Study here at the Glass House. An important addition to design literature, it also has a very personal introduction by Robert A. M. Stern, one of Johnson’s famous “kids.” Learn more and order your copy today.

I am excited to announce that the Glass House will hold an Art Salon Talk on December 1 at Art Basel Miami. Artist and art historian Liam Gillick and photographer Todd Eberle will speak with art critic Amei Wallach about inspiration and cultivation as related to the fine art + design collection at the Philip Johnson Glass House.

If you are in Miami please come. Hunter Palmer, Director of Visitor Experience + Programs, Christa Carr, Glass House guide and marketing associate, and I will be there!

Now, I must tell you that the annual fund is in the mail and in the ether. But you don’t need to receive an eblast from me to know that the Glass House has accomplished a lot this year, and that there is so much more we wish to do. There are our fabulous programs, our research, our website (which we’d love to redesign for easier navigation), and the magnificent property, which needs a lot of tender loving care. Please read more and consider a generous annual gift to the Glass House today. You’ll be glad you did, and we will be so glad, too.

Rena Zurofsky

Interim Director, Philip Johnson Glass House
____________________________________________________________________

October 31, 2011

The “Halloween Weekend” snowstorm shut down Glass House tours, along with much of the rest of Connecticut--if not the entire northeast United States. On the plus side, a few lucky people actually got to see the property in the rapidly accumulated snow. On the negative side, they had to drive home under dangerous conditions—as did our staff. Shortly afterwards, the power died and tours remained cancelled through Halloween Day, at least.

We hold tours under most weather conditions but when extreme weather happens, we often have to make quick decisions about the safety of guests and staff. If we have to cancel your tours due to terrible conditions, we do our best to give maximum notice to everyone. We get on the internet and the telephones asap, and we put a notice on our website. In Saturday’s case, the snow started so quickly (and earlier than forecast) and fell so fast that we weren’t able to stop everyone from driving in for afternoon tours, which we sincerely regret.

Please rest assured that if we cancel your tour, we make every effort to reschedule within the current tour season. If we are unable to do so, we refund your money and hope you will try again in the following year. We hope all of our visitors, on Saturday or any day, were safe this past weekend. And we look forward to reopening the property for the rest of the tour season just as soon as possible.

Rena Zurofsky

Interim Director, Philip Johnson Glass House
____________________________________________________________________

October 7, 2011

Sometimes, after a long drive on the Merritt Parkway (as beautiful as it is), I find myself cross and edgy from all the traffic. I wonder why I do it. But after only ten minutes walking on the Glass House grounds, I am once again calm and centered, glad to have arrived again at this beautiful location where the buzz of insects is more significant than any passing vehicles. Lately, of course, the sounds of buzz saws have been prominent as New Canaan finishes the clean up after Hurricane Irene. Although some neighbors were without power for up to a week due to the many downed trees and wires, our property regained power after four days. We had a few trees damaged, but happily the Johnson/Whitney landscape plans and the constant vigilance of our groundskeeper ensured that no trees hit structures. We were very lucky, but between damage and a week of cancelled tours, our annual breakeven budget took a hit of over $20,000 which we hope our generous admirers will help us regain.

September disappeared in a blur, although it was notable in the introduction of our new Pure Glass House tour, which is proving to be very popular. Other highlights included a crush of Conversations in Context programs, including the always captivating Paul Goldberger, Tod Williams + Billie Tsien, and finally Gregg Paquarelli, Philip Nobel + Karen Stein. Actually, they were all captivating! Video from Paul Goldberger's conversation has just been completed, with more coming soon.

October’s Conversations will be hosted by artist David Salle and architect Charles Renfro, beautifully reflecting the lives of David Whitney, curator and collector and Philip Johnson, architect and arbiter. Another of our Plein Air Afternoons will be offered this month as well, intended for artists, photographers, writers or others who crave some extra unstructured time on the property.

For all you leaf peepers, there are still some weekday tour tickets available in October. Personally I can hardly wait until the leaves begin to turn, changing this estate from a green oasis into a hot orange mecca—and by the way, changing Philip Johnson’s “expensive wallpaper” at the same time!

Rena Zurofsky

Interim Director, Philip Johnson Glass House
____________________________________________________________________

August 25, 2011

At 7:30 pm in mid-August, the sun has long since raked the exquisite larch at the top of the hill on the south side of Popestead (The brown house near the road, which came with the land when Johnson purchased it. The name refers to Johnson’s aunt, the architect Theodate Pope). It will be two months before a similar angled light turns those soon drying needles into fireworks (the filament kind), but after a big storm there is that something in the air that signals autumn. I’m thinking about it and so are the trees. I’ve already seen some browning at the edges of the deciduous leaves, although the site’s many evergreens remain nonchalant.

Philip Johnson and David Whitney knew what they were about with landscaping. The site is, with apparent simplicity, captivating in any season. The story goes that the two would sit on the promontory with their cocktails and instruct the tree men in what branches to trim, and what trees to eliminate--but what are the trees they kept, or planted? So this evening I walked out with a landscape survey to try to learn more about the trees.

I recognize the many sugar maples—enough to consider sugaring to enhance revenues with Glass House syrup, if we can find modernist sugar pots and jars. I admire our truly mighty oaks and the few weeping willows in the wetlands. White pines not only greet guests at the entrance, but also appear throughout the property in attractive, scented ways.

But I wanted to figure out what some less familiar trees might be. I was helped by the fading day to remind me which was west, because the survey photos all say SW or NE of this and that. There were some particular trees that interested me. First up on my list was the large tree, trained into almost equal halves, bisecting the large stone wall near the Glass House. An oak on the other side of the drive has such wide branches and thick leaves that people often look up and think this other tree is the Oak. But it is, in fact, a hickory tree.

By the way, it was another bough of the magnificent oak that fell and damaged the concrete Untitled, 1971 by Donald Judd, which is currently being conserved.

And at the south end of the wall is a perfect cupcake of a Japanese red pine. It seems like a hybrid of a bush and a tree, and is altogether desirable.

The Brick House is sided by beech trees, and one dwarf beech. The Glass House is closely guarded by sugar maples, oaks, and a linden tree, which surge up from below the promontory. River birches are bunched up the hill to the east, at the top of the property to discourage peering eyes. (Do please keep off the stone wall, because it is old and because the River Birches are good screens so it is useless, anyway.)

The maple allée outside of the Galleries is a beckoning relief when exiting the sculpture gallery, particularly on a sweltering summer day. There is an elm near the rock wall too.

Back up the path towards Da Monsta is a horse chestnut we’ve been nursing along, I’m not sure why it needs that TLC but we are happy to offer it. And behind Da Monsta is a little grove of Persimmons. I wonder if they bear fruit in spring?

In the end, I make up my mind to attend a landscape tour, because I need to learn so much more. You can do this too, or you can join one of our plein air afternoons, which allow three hours of wandering time for photographers, painters, sketchers, writers or just daydreamers.

Rena Zurofsky

Interim Director, Philip Johnson Glass House
____________________________________________________________________

July 29, 2011

I fear I caused some serious upset on my early morning walk at the Glass House today.

First, the turkeys were quite put out, even though they were mostly on the shortcut and I was on the main path. We had a bit of a stand-off as they considered my level of threat. I finally got a low code, so they just lumbered off the gravel to the grass, even though I wasn’t going that way.

Next were the deer. I hadn’t realized the property manager had called in two fawns to trim the stone wall greenery right next to the Glass House. Another stand-off as they considered whether to finish that job or retreat to work below the promontory. They went below, so I approached and found a lone turkey on the Glass House stoop looking around for Philip or David, I guess. The bird led me around the back to where my act of gazing over to the Pavilion startled four young bucks with budding racks.

Okay, okay! I retreated back toward the main path only to annoy two rather large raptors who’d been communing in one of our beautiful trees. One flew down nearly to the path to find the best route out to open space. I wonder if it was the same one I saw perched last night on the cone roof of the Library/Study?

Probably the only creatures I hadn’t upset were the ticks. I’ll check later to see if any are upsetting me.

The morning light was reminiscent of the day Stacy Bass photographed for the recent, beautiful feature “Natural Artistry” in the July/August issue of one of Moffly Media’s titles, New Canaan, Darien & Rowayton Magazine.

And those photographs remind me to let you all know about the wonderful new photography-related opportunities we are offering the public in August.

Conversations in Context on Thursday, August 18th, will be led by photographer Todd Eberle, who has had a stellar thirty-year career in editorial, architectural and art photography, including here at the Glass House. There is still room but please don’t delay, purchase tickets soon. Eberle will also be signing copies of his new book, Empire of Space, at the Glass House Visitor Center at 4:30pm on August 18th, prior to the evening program.

We are also experimenting with a very exciting new program, called Plein Air Afternoons: Photography, Painting and Poetry. On August 17 and 31, we are offering you the opportunity to have three unstructured hours on the Glass House site to take photos, paint, draw, write, or simply enjoy. Some rules apply and guides will be on hand. Please don’t delay, sign up here. If successful, we’ll offer more of these opportunities in the future.

Rena Zurofsky

Interim Director, Philip Johnson Glass House
____________________________________________________________________

July 15, 2011

A recent article reminded me that these hot and sultry days are called the “dog days” of summer. Our minds slow and generally urge us to take a break. We hope, naturally, you will want to take that break with us, as a walk on the Glass House property does indeed seem like a beautiful vacation in only a few hours.

But it is dogs I want to talk about. David Whitney had two dogs, James and Alice. Johnson built them a “dog house” (which was really a model for an unbuilt project) that is now called the Ossuary because once the puppies grew they repurposed it for bone storage. One of the fourteen structures on our property, this is the only one with a “window” that gazes towards the Glass House. Look for it on your visit!

David would always take the dogs in his car when he went to garden stores or into town. Alice was, unfortunately, killed by a car many years ago. James, though injured at the same time, is still with us and still enjoys riding in cars and pick-ups.

That’s right! He lives on the property and is very well cared for. He is sweet dog although a bit of a heavy breather. He is quite old now, about 14, so he moves slowly even in cool weather. As a Keeshond, James has a thick coat, so to him these “dog days” must seem like they belong to some other creature –possibly cats. He still likes to ride around in cars and feel the wind in his face.

James is not the only animal on the property by a long shot, but he is the only official one. Besides the wandering turkeys and deer, we have resident chipmunks, squirrels, and groundhogs, plus raptors, songbirds and crows without number, the occasional cat, and when the mood suits, coyotes. (On your visit here you might see all but the coyotes, as they generally avoid anything that looks like a lecture.) James pretty much ignores them all.

Summer doesn’t really mean slowing down to the Glass House team. Aside from a full sleight of interesting tours, we are just finishing scraping and painting the Glass House itself.

Unfortunately, the Glass House work upset some patrons. We do try to keep the property as pristine as possible so everyone can truly enjoy the sublime beauty of the place, but preservation is our business and sometimes it is dirty work. Since our season extends from spring until winter, we often invite the public to watch. We always hope it will be more interesting than intrusive.

Next up is the restoration of Donald Judd’s Untitled, 1971. Testing for materials begins July 18. We’ll be featuring the work on our website throughout the project.

Rena Zurofsky

Interim Director, Philip Johnson Glass House
____________________________________________________________________

June 15, 2011

When David Whitney prepared for a party, he didn’t fool around. As he was a keeper of lists, we can verify that at least one party’s prep agenda included:

Ice
Hand towels – paper
Cups
Toilet Paper
Wastebasket in bathroom
Empty medicine cabinets
Make bed
Sawhorse in driveway
Open fireplace flue
Get insurance

We referred to some of this list as we prepared for Dine with Design, which took place on Saturday, June 11. Our first on-site fundraiser since the opening five years ago, it was a delicious farm-to-table event to which we welcomed about 200 fun-loving-foodie-modern-design-fans. Helping us host the party was Estevan Rael-Gálvez, the new Vice President of Historic Sites for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. I hope those of you who were here had the chance to speak with him—he was the man with the raptor feather in his pocket (a good find on our property!)

No one I spoke with on that festive day let a little cold and intermittent downpours interfere with a good time. Besides amazing food and drink, music, and good company in an unparalleled environment, our guests received autographed copies of the cookbook Harvest to Heat, fabulous “picnic” (but we’ll use them on our beds) blankets provided by BMW, coasters from Le Creuset, coffee from Peet’s, chocolates from Theo’s (you shouldn’t go hungry on the way home), and the magazines At Home and Fine Cooking. Details about the chefs and many generous donors, and pictures of the party itself can all be found here.

David Whitney himself has not been previously featured on our website, despite the fact that the Glass House mission refers to his spirit of inspiration, experimentation and cultivation, along with Philip Johnson’s. He was Johnson’s companion for almost fifty years and in his own right a fascinating man. Therefore, we are extremely pleased to have just added to our website a biographical essay by our curator, Irene Shum Allen.

Whitney was an integral part of the American art scene for much of the second half of the twentieth-century as a collector, curator, and friend to such artists as Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and photographer Lynn Davis. Whitney curated the Glass House collection, which ultimately formed a significant aspect of the Museum of Modern Art’s collection. David Whitney was the taste-maker most of us don’t know.

His eye is also apparent around the Glass House landscape. He was a dedicated gardener, and his two remaining gardens are finally on view this year through our landscape tour. He and Johnson were also known to discuss the trimming of trees over cocktails while the men with the buzz saws waited below for their hand signals from the promontory.

Please read this important new essay. As it is accompanied by quite a few illustrations, I noted particularly that in all but the most posed pictures, David Whitney is either completely engrossed in conversation with his companion(s), or he is laughing. How I would have liked to have known him.

Over the next year the Glass House will also be engaged in creating an oral history about David Whitney, through the voices of his friends.

Rena Zurofsky

Interim Director, Philip Johnson Glass House
____________________________________________________________________

June 1, 2011

If I had awakened this morning about 6:30 in the Glass House (which I did not), and sat up on the right side of the bed, I’d have been able to watch two male turkeys squaring off in a display of their impressive brown tail feathers, fanning and folding as they stared at each other. They stood, one on the mowed square of lawn by the pool and a stone wall, the other on a rise beyond another stone wall perpendicular to the first on a separate mowed patch (there is an un-mowed field between these walls). It was a silent contest and just possibly could have been watched continuously after a shower and, from the far side of the house, during breakfast.

If I lived there.

In the evenings I’m sure I’d stare out to the west (the left side of the bed), though only a single chair at the table is actually oriented that way. West is where the promontory drops and as the sun turns the sky golden or orange or pink one can watch deer or turkeys grazing below, and raptors soaring among the tree-tops, which is to say, at eye level. Sometimes one spots a raptor snacking at the very top of the Lincoln Kirstein Tower. Easy for the bird, not having to climb those harrowing steps. (We won’t let you try that either, so please don’t ask.)

On another part of the property, the peony and iris garden is in its third delirious week, with lily shoots just beginning to show. Why everyone doesn’t sign up for our landscape tour is beyond me. There is still time this year but at least put these weeks down for next year’s reservations because David Whitney was serious about this garden. Today I swooned for a deep purple iris called “Moon River” and a very loud peony called “Hit Parade.” And those were just my first loves of the morning.

Okay, I work here, so I opted to sniff each cultivar even though it meant breathing badly for the rest of today. Both flowers have such mild fragrances, one must lean in to catch a hint. The colors are so marvelously varied in this garden, and the staggered dates and durations of the blooms are so impressive that I resolve to start again at my own home. But it is still before 7 this morning, and it will be another long day, so we’ll see what I recall when actually facing my own garden.

Rena Zurofsky

Interim Director, Philip Johnson Glass House

____________________________________________________________________

May 2011

The days seemed to speed up as we approached the May 1st opening day. We had grounds to clean from the hard winter, new and returning staff to train, a restyled shop to open, and a major grant to complete (we are always seeking funds to supplement admissions and endowment). I thought time would slow again once we greeted our first guests of the season, but the month is halfway done and I’m just finding time to write this message.

Rain is pouring in sheets from a grey dawn sky as I write. I’m watching the heavy boughs of the Glass House evergreens sway gently with the waters’ weight. It is cold this week, a setback from earlier May when our guests experienced the grounds as if in a summer’s preview. However, the rain does deepen the property’s multitude of greens, and the Glass House itself becomes more of a haven, a glass room sheltered as if by magic from the storm. Perhaps because I spent formative summers in a four-girl tent in a Pennsylvania that seemed always to be wet, I find the storm thrilling—an adventure for visitors who wear their boots and raincoats. Even Johnson’s and Whitney’s carefully curated landscape cannot take the wildness out of such a day—although the many sheltering structures give relief, as do the strong umbrellas we provide.

Recently, on a kinder dawn, a few staff members met with a photographer to capture the landscape in a different light. The Glass House itself is placed directly on a north/south/east/west axis, and most photographers crave the bright sunsets beyond the virtually invisible walls and promontory. The sunrise is subtler here—behind trees, over a hill, a road, and other houses. It lends an almost crystalline beauty to the place, and I hope we may show you those photographs soon.

David Whitney’s peonies are about to burst into bloom, but only those quick thinkers who join next week’s Landscape Tours will be able to see them at their peak.

In the next few days we will have our first Conversation in Context, with Johnson scholar, Hilary Lewis. Please consider joining one of our future conversations for unparalleled access to fascinating thought-leaders as well as this property. And Dine with Design, promises to be delicious and delightful, rain or shine, on June 11. There are only a few tickets left. Is one yours?

Rena Zurofsky

Interim Director, Philip Johnson Glass House

____________________________________________________________________

April 2011

Daylight savings time brings long days to the Glass House property staff. This year it happily signaled the end of snow shoveling and the beginning of grounds grooming for the fast-approaching opening date of May 1. This will be our fifth season open to the public.

April is already a whirlwind before the veritable storm of tours and exciting events begin. Glass House is privileged to have a pool of incredibly gifted guides, many of whom have been with us since our opening. When past visitors have been surveyed, nearly one hundred percent of them rave about the quality of their guide’s presentation.

Besides the voluminous readings the guides have absorbed, and the trips they’ve taken to compare and learn new techniques, they will participate in three full weeks of study and retraining, as well as training in the new focus tours on Architecture, Art and Landscape. Along with peer reviewers, Glass House back office staff will each attend at least one trial tour to give their feedback—and for the pure pleasure of taking two hours out of a busy time to learn and enjoy the incredible Glass House environment.

The Visitor Center staff is redecorating the retail space to make way for an infusion of new merchandise, including more Glass House specific items, architecture and design-related desk accessories, men’s gifts, jewelry and well-designed toys to encourage creativity in very young architects/designers/artists.

May also brings our very first Conversations in Context, to be led by Hilary Lewis, who was intimately acquainted with Philip Johnson. Read more about her here.

And finally, May will see the continuation of our mad rush to finalize all the many details of an amazing new event to benefit our operations and preservation efforts, Dine with Design. For a few hours on June 11, ticket holders will be able to wander through the site and picnic on the grounds sampling tastings made by five of the finest American chefs, with locally provided farm-fresh food, and on sustainably made and disposable utensils. We are immensely grateful to our many partners and sponsors. You’ll find all the details here.

We look forward to seeing you here!

Rena Zurofsky

Interim Director, Philip Johnson Glass House

____________________________________________________________________

March 2011

Photo: Steve Brosnahan
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February 2011

The latest winter storm has coated the magnificent trees of Glass House with a hoary frost. Today’s sudden warming surrounds them in a white fog. How wonderful to be safe inside yet feel outside, too! Philip Johnson’s genius placed an urbane New York–style apartment in this magnificent setting—without walls—only his“expensive wallpaper.”

Restrictions prevent us from inviting the public through during the winter months, and this season has been so fierce I’m even worried about how the local coyotes will survive it. But the Glass House staff remains very busy with plans for the coming fifth year of operations.

We are launching a joint membership program, in conjunction with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Benefits vary by category but all are quite worthwhile and stretch across the entire organization. For details, click here.

In addition to our Glass House site tours, this season we will offer new Focus tours concentrating on our beautiful Landscape, on Johnson’s Architecture, and on the impressive Art collection on-site (only a fraction of Johnson’s and Whitney’s lifetimes of collecting).

Another new program for 2011 enhances our original Glass House Conversations program and current on-line Glass House Conversations public dialogue by bringing it into a new public realm, Thursday evenings each month of our season. For this latest iteration, Conversations in Context, we’ve invited thought leaders in areas of architecture, landscape, preservation anddesign to walk the property with a small group of visitors, offering their own interpretations and ideas, and concluding with a reception to continue the dialogue on the Glass House site .

Tickets go on sale February 15 at 9 A.M. EST. We look forward to seeing you here.

Rena Zurofsky

Interim Director, Philip Johnson Glass House

______________________________________________________________________
January 2010

Photo: James Welling

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December 2010

The trees have lost their leaves, exposing the contours of land around the Glass House. The old stone walls which in season are merely hinted at now catch our attention, as does the old chimney, all pentimento of another age. It seems to me that it is in this season most of all that Poussin’s painting, “Burial of Phocion,” (featured in the Glass House living room) is best echoed in the view.

We have closed the fourth season of public visits to this extraordinary property. From early May to late November we hosted visitors from all but six states. If you have friends or family in Alaska,Arkansas, North or South Dakota, West Virginia or Wyoming, please help us spread the word! We also had visitors from thirty-six countries, from as close as Canada and Mexico to as far as New Zealand; or from A for Australia to Z for Zaire!

This past season saw the introduction of a fascinating series of online conversations. We have asked established and emerging designers, architects, and other thought-leaders to pose probing questions for on-line discussion with the general public. That means you. This is an amazing opportunity for everyone to engage in discussions of public space, the interaction between design disciplines, the case for public transportation, the shape of a “post-national world” and much, much more. You can view past and join current Glass House Conversations here.

A significant accomplishment this year was the completion of a Modern Home registry, which added eighteen homes in New Canaan to the National and Sate Registers of Historic Places. We at Glass House take seriously our mission to encourage the preservation of significant modernist structures, and it gave us great pleasure to work directly with some of our like-minded neighbors. You can read more about this project, about the New Canaan Modern Home Survey, and learn about how you might pursue registry for your own home here.

Our double Modern Views events in Chicago and New York City marked the very beginning of our campaign to restore the Brick House, the Glass House’s more private twin. Architects, artists and designers donated work which was auctioned off to benefit both Glass House and the Farnsworth House, another National Trust for Historic Preservation site, and of course, another modernist masterpiece. Modern Views, the book, is still available with images of all the art as well as statements by the donors as to how these properties have influenced and inspired them. You can learn more about this book, and order it at The Glass House on-line store. There you will find other fine Glass House related books and products.

In January, I will tell you about some exciting changes ahead, as well as when tickets will launch for the 2011 season. In the meantime, all of us at Glass House wish you safe holidays and a Happy New Year!

Rena Zurofsky

Interim Director, Philip Johnson Glass House

______________________________________________________________________

November 2010

Philip Johnson’s Glass House is the private structure that shook the mid-century architecture world; at once an homage and a dig to Mies van der Rohe. It is a statement of carefully planned simplicity that is, in fact, the height of luxury—surrounded at the end of Johnson’s life by 47 acres of carefully landscaped expensive “wallpaper.”

Visitors here are surprised to find so much more than the Glass House itself, including numerous buildings, follies, and a significant art collection, in a suburban setting so countrified that after the wild turkeys witness the sunset just beyond the Barcelona chairs, coyotes wander howling through the night.

I am privileged to serve as Interim Director of the Glass House. My journey here has been long, rewarding and somewhat circuitous, encompassing positions at the Metropolitan, Brooklyn, and Newark Museums, as well as at the American Museum of Natural History. In recent years, as a museum consultant I’ve had the privilege of serving as interim director of a number of museums and historic sites—including Chesterwood, another inspiring property of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

While the beauty of Philip Johnson’s Glass House captures our hearts, this site also offers multiple ways to engage our minds. We plan to enhance this experience in the coming year by developing specialized tours that will deepen the exploration of the architecture, landscape and art collections. We are also beginning to visualize new conversations to examine Johnson’s life and significance more fully, as well as how his influence manifests itself among today’s practitioners.

I look forward to telling you in future posts about the exciting tours and initiatives ahead.

Rena Zurofsky

Interim Director, Philip Johnson Glass House