The Glass House is a historic house museum on Ponus Ridge Road in New Canaan, Connecticut, built between 1948 and 1949. It was designed by American architect Philip Johnson as his own residence and, according to architectural historian Alice T. Friedman, is “considered a derivative” of the Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois. Johnson curated an exhibition of Mies van der Rohe’s work at the Museum of Modern Art in 1947, which featured a model of the Farnsworth Glass House.
The house is an example of the early use of industrial materials in home design, such as glass and steel. Johnson lived there for 58 years with his longtime companion David Whitney, an art historian and curator who helped design the landscaping and mostly held art exhibitions there.
The house has a rectangular shape. It is constructed of glass and metal. The transparent glass walls are attached to a metal frame painted black. The floor of the building is slightly elevated above the surrounding ground. Inside, the house is not divided into rooms and presents a single space, separated only by pieces of furniture. A cylindrical room made of brick is built into the house, in which the bathroom is located.
The building is 17 meters long, 9.8 meters wide and 3.2 meters high.
In addition to the Glass House, there are 10 structures on the site designed by Philip Johnson at various periods in his career.
The house was not used for permanent residence. For many years, Johnson used the house for weekend vacations. Although the house has transparent walls, the occupants are not in full view of passersby due to the large size of the land around the house.
In 2005, Johnson passed away at the age of 98. The house was bequeathed to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Since 2007, the house has hosted tours for visitors.