House Tour -- Caution: It's Glass

Philip Johnson's Glass House in New Canaan, was completed in 1949 and is a celebrated example of modernist architecture. Inspired by Mies van der Rohe, its exterior walls are glass and there are no interior walls. A National Trust for Historic Preservation site, the Glass House was "a radical departure from houses of the time," according to the Trust. For fifty-years, it's been a laboratory of architectural experimentation with the addition of new "pavilions"—Guest House, Lake Pavilion, Painting Gallery, Sculpture Gallery, Ghost House, Studio, and Visitors Pavilion—and the methodical sculpting of the surrounding forty-acre landscape.

Starting May 1, Philip Johnson Glass House launches its 2010 tour season. Tours are available May through November, with six different types of tour available. “The Glass House offers visitors a varied selection of tours conducted by a talented and dedicated guide team,” says Christy MacLear, Glass House executive director. “This year’s guide team is composed of individuals with degrees and professional experience in the fields of architecture, art conservation, art history, fine art, history and theory of modern art, landscape architecture and interior design."

Ticket orders may be placed on the Glass House website or by calling (866) 811-4111. Tickets start at $30.

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