CALL 301-503-6171
Modern Capital
  • About
    • Testimonials
  • My Listings
  • Neighborhoods
  • MCM Architecture
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Menu Menu
You are here: Home1 / Blog2 / Mid-Century Modern3 / Giving the Gift of the Glass House

BLOG

December 18, 2010/Mid-Century Modern /by Mid-Century Mike

Giving the Gift of the Glass House

Johnson's library/study. Johnson called it an "event" on the landscape.

Are you looking for a gift for the modernist who has everything?  The folks at the Philip Johnson Glass House have an idea. Think private tour of the Glass House and then dinner at the Johnson and Mies-designed Four Seasons in New York. The modernist experience is $400 per person. In August, I visited the Glass House for the first time. I went on the Modern Friends tour that allowed photography and access to more of the buildings on the 47-acre property. The tour was close to private; there was only two other people there on a weekday in August. And no Four Seasons for me. I had a veggie burger at a local burger joint.

The Glass House

The classic shot of the Glass House.

I know Johnson’s work had major influence on introducing the International Style to residential modernism,  but I did not have a strong reaction to the Glass House itself (or at least when compared to the feeling I had when I visited the Stahl House and Miller House.) Maybe I had seen too many pictures of it. Or maybe that is the really just the point of the minimalist design, with the house disappearing against the greenery of the property. Seeing structures I was less familiar with such as Johnson’s Library/Study (1980) and the Painting Gallery (1965), which was inspired by the Treasury of Atreus, a tomb in Greece, was more interesting. These had some more personal touches that allows a visitor to get a better feel of who Johnson–who died in his beloved Glass House after a walk around the property–was. Here are just a few shots from the visit.

Glass House living room

The house is still decorated with the original furniture by Mies.

Glass House Painting Gallery

The entrance to the tomb-like Painting Gallery.

Glass House Painting Gallery

Johnson designed innovative revolving panels so he could display more art at one time.

Andy Warhol of Philip Johnson

A 1972 painting by Andy Warhol of Philip Johnson.

Inside Glass House library

Inside Johnson's one-room library/study. It has a fireplace but no bathroom. The 1984 Ghost House, an architectural folly made a chain-link, can be seen through the window.

Glass House library - books

Just some of Johnson's books on architecture.

Related posts:

  1. Glass House Donor Tour
  2. The Glass House
  3. D.C. to New Canaan or Bust: Johnson’s Glass House Now Open
  4. Modern Snapshot: The Four Seasons
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail
https://www.moderncapitaldc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/modern-capital-logo.png 0 0 Mid-Century Mike https://www.moderncapitaldc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/modern-capital-logo.png Mid-Century Mike2010-12-18 23:41:432020-11-23 11:02:02Giving the Gift of the Glass House

Call Modern Capital founder and Realtor Michael Shapiro for your mid-century real estate needs.
301-503-6171
michael@moderncapitaldc.com

Subscribe via email

Popular Posts

Sold: Cook Architecture Reno in Falls Church – $990K

Sold: Historic Charles Wagner Design in Moyaone Reserve

Under Contract: Custom Chloethiel Woodard Smith in Somerset

Categories

  • Alcoa Care-Free Home
  • Bannockburn Bethesda MD
  • Bauhaus
  • Bethesda Maryland
  • Carderock Springs
  • Charles Goodman
  • Cook Architecture
  • Deck House
  • Docomomo
  • Frank Lloyd Wright
  • Glen Echo Heights Maryland
  • Hammond Wood Kensington MD
  • Hickory Cluster
  • Hollin Hills Virginia
  • Holmes Run Acres Virginia
  • Mid-Century Modern
  • Moyaone Reserve Accokeek MD
  • New Mark Commons Rockville MD
  • Palm Springs
  • Pine Spring Falls Church VA
  • Potomac Overlook
  • Reston Virginia
  • River Park Washington DC
  • Rock Creek Woods Silver Spring MD
  • Silver Spring Maryland
  • Southwest
  • Tiber Island
  • Truro Annandale VA
  • Wessynton

Archives

michael.shapiro@compass.com
Cell: 301-503-6171
Direct E-Fax: 253-369-5843

Modern Capital
5471 Wisconsin Ave, Suite 300
Chevy Chase, MD 20815

  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Google_map
Carderock Springs
Carderock Springs
  • About
  • My Listings
  • Neighborhoods
  • MCM Architecture
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
Corcoran Show Explores Danish Modern DesignMid-Century Modern in the Sun
Scroll to top