e Glass House, which is how Johnson referred to the entire proper (now totaling 50 acres),
is actually one of 14 total structures of various architectural sles on the grounds. Aside from
the pavilions made of glass and brick is the glass-ceilinged Sculpture Gallery, built in 1970 and
partially inspired by the islands of Greece with works from the likes of Robert Rauschenberg and
Frank Stella, as well as the Studio, a workspace built in 1980 with 1,400 books on architecture.
Particularly personal is the Painting Gallery, constructed in 1965, home to Johnson's and his
longtime partner David Whitney's vast art collection, with works from Andy Warhol, Cindy
Sherman and Julian Schnabel. Johnson was as prolific an art collector—he met Kandinsky, he
knew Klee—as he was a promoter of other architects, like Frank Gehry, with whom he was great
friends and would see in L.A. en route to his house in Big Sur.
In letting the proper evolve over time, Johnson expressed his diversi of tastes and willingness
to not stay in one mode. "e different sles was his own form of consistency, as opposed to
something that was in conflict," explains Lewis. "To him, time would change, so sles would
change. He had an appreciation for novel and the newest developments. He kept up with what
was happening in the world. It's all Johnson's interpretation of European Modern placed in the
context of Connecticut."
Prior to his death in 2005, Johnson endowed the National Trust for Historic Preservation with
the Glass House, opening up his remarkable view to—and of—the world. eGlassHouse.org
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