Philip Johnson's home goes public

Not long after it was built in 1949, Philip Johnson's private residence in New Canaan, Conn., known as the Glass House, came to be regarded as a key example of American modernist architecture. Inspired by Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House (1945-51), the structure features an above-ground glass box and a complex of other pavilions on a 47-acre site. Over the years, the architect and his partner of 45 years, designer and curator David Whitney, built an important collection of contemporary art and embellished the property with experimental structures and landscape designs. Upon the deaths of Johnson and Whitney--in 2005, within months of each other--the compound was willed to the National Trust for Historic Preservation and declared a National Trust Historic Site. Plans were soon in place to restore the property and open it to the public.

Under the auspices of the National Trust, the Glass House opens on June 23 with an inaugural gala picnic. As part of the opening festivities, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company will restage a 1967 performance. More information about the Glass House may be found on its Web site, www.philipjohnsonglasshouse.org.

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