The Philip Johnson Glass House
The Philip Johnson Glass House, a National Trust Historic Site, offers its 47-acre campus as a catalyst for the preservation and interpretation of modern architecture, landscape, and art; and as a canvas for inspiration and experimentation honoring the legacy of Philip Johnson (1906-2005) and David Whitney (1939-2005).
The Philip Johnson Glass House was completed in 1949. Inspired by Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House (Plano, IL, 1951), its exterior walls are of glass with no interior walls, a radical departure from houses of the time. The Glass House began a fifty-year odyssey of architectural experimentation in forms, materials, and ideas through the addition of many “pavilions”—the Brick House/Guest House, Pond Pavilion, Painting Gallery, Sculpture Gallery, Ghost House, Library/Study, and DaMonsta—and the methodical sculpting of the surrounding forty-acre landscape.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a non-profit membership organization bringing people together to protect, enhance and enjoy the places that matter to them. By saving the places where great moments from history – and the important moments of everyday life – took place, the National Trust for Historic Preservation helps revitalize neighborhoods and communities, spark economic development and promote environmental sustainability. With headquarters in Washington, DC, 9 regional and field offices, 29 historic sites, and partner organizations in all 50 states, the National Trust for Historic Preservation provides leadership, education, advocacy and resources to a national network of people, organizations and local communities committed to saving places, connecting us to our history and collectively shaping the future of America’s stories. www.PreservationNation.org
My father, Ben Seltzman worked with Philip on the fountain in the middle of the pond, in New Canaan in the late 1950s & early 60s. He also worked on the fountain at the Seagram’s bldg. They were on a 1st name basis. My dad gave Philip some old B&W pix of the inside workings of the fountain mechanism and the fountain itself, in the late 1990s, when Ben attended a lecture Philip gave in NYC. My dad is now 89 yrs. old & working with Philip Johnson was one of the highlights of his life as a mechanical engineer and inventor. He took me & my sister to visit the “Glass House” many times during our childhood years. The last time I met Philip was when I was in college (approx. 1979-80). Ben stopped in unexpectedly (with me in tow) at the Glass House, to “see if Philip was around” (something my father liked to do). He was & he was busy designing. He had classical music playing–loud–and when he came out to greet us he had a fistful of newly sharpened pencils. He was very polite, but made it clear that he had “so many projects” he was working on, that he had to get right back to work. It was a memorable meeting of the great man, for me.