He was a great landowner and designed ten houses just for himself. How he did it? Mainly because of the family fortune his father made in aluminum mining.
Over the years, the land purchased grew and this architectural masterpiece was installed in the center of the property.
The most frequently asked question by visitors is: where did the owner sleep?? The answer will shock you. In a brick house.
Of course, any privacy in the glass house is out of the question, so he built a second one, made of brick. The two buildings face each other, separated by a lawn.
Brick floors and bathrooms. The pattern is laid out so that there is no clear line between the room and the street.
A wooden divider separates the bedroom and living room. Although the bed indicates that the architect slept in this house occasionally, it is clear that it would have been very uncomfortable to live here permanently, although the windows could have been covered with retractable panels.
Nevertheless, the home’s close relationship with nature is important. Johnson later erected several other structures near the lake.
And this is the study and library, which was originally white. The building has just one room with one window.
The plan shows only three areas: the round bathroom, aka the boiler room, the separated bedroom and living room, and the kitchen, which served as a bar during the many parties the owner loved to have.
Sources
- Farnsworth House and The Glass House. Modern Views. Assouline, 2010.
- Frampton, Kenneth and Larkin, David. American Masterworks: The Twentieth Century House. Rizzoli, 1995.
- Gorlin, Alexander. Tomorrow’s Houses: New England Modernism. Rizzoli, 2011.
- The National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Glass House. Rizzoli, 2011.
- Philip Johnson Glass House, National Trust for Historic Preservation.
What was the inspiration behind Philip Johnson’s design for the magnificent glass house?