In Pictures: For the Love of the Glass House

Six days a week (except Tuesdays) from May through November a motley crew leads visitors through Philip Johnson's estate. Ten of the 19 guides are New Canaanites. Some are transplants, others are life-long New Canaan residents, some studied and worked in architecture, others in the financial industry. All of them love this place.  

Johnson called the site his "50-year diary". New Canaan resident and tour guide Peggy Dannemann tells her tours it was his "50-year laboratory".

"He tried out different ideas and different concepts, constantly changing things, because he was curious about what was new," she explains inside his study.

The study was his "monk's cell", a small Greek-style building that was once painted white, but which he, in the spirit of change, later painted a terracotta color to blend into the landscape. The silence created by the thick walls is illuminated by natural light from skylights, so that visitors can appreciate the volumes of architectural history that surrounded his desk.

When Eileen Mattes first saw the structure on the cover of Architectural Digest in 1980, she couldn't believe it was in the United States. Now, it's her favorite building to showcase on a tour. The natural light, his books and tools, and the unique wooden chairs, give it a "relaxed feel", she explained.

Christie Nichols currently works in the Visitor Center shop, but her first view of the Glass House was from her elementary school bus, riding above the wall surrounding the estate.

"I remember being fascinated with idea of 'how do you live in a glass house?'," she said.

Formerly with an architectural firm in Philadelphia, Mary Griffin brings her background to her appreciation of the landscape and the art to her tours. But she lives by her favorite quote from Philip Johnson: "Shut up and look around."

"What I think he was saying was 'there's a lot to take in here; just be still and absorb it'. The architecture, the landscape, the art—it all engages the senses while you're here. Each tour is unique that way."

Peggy Dannemann sums up the guides' common appreciation for the place, "There is never a day that goes by that I'm out here that I don't see something new; from something P.J. designed or an insight from a guest."