(NEW YORK) On Saturday, June 22nd in New Canaan, Connecticut, Alfred Dunhill threw a downright dapper event in support of the famous architectural masterpieces, The Philip Johnson Glass House. Built in 1949 by Philip Johnson for his own personal residence, the completely see through tiny open space house has come to be regarded as one of the greatest examples in modern architecture of both minimalism and proportion. The event, which this year was sponsored by Dunhill, is held each summer in preservation of the house as well as the other structures on the 47-acre estate including a pavillion overlooking the Rippowam River, the Brick Housse, the Painting Gallery, the Study, the Ghost House, Kirstein Tower, and the gate house referred to as “Da Monsta”, which is currently covered with artist, E.V. Day‘s Snap! spiderweb.
Guests like Town & Country EIC, Jay Fielden and his wife Yvonne Fielden; Details market editor, Justin Berkowitz; and photographer, Todd Eberle were treated to picnic baskets courtesy of chef Brian Lewis of New Canaan restaurant Elm and were able to roam freely through the estate as the lilting voice of Eliza Rickman and lounge furniture provided by Design Within Reach served as the backdrop. As guests sipped wine courtesy of Moët & Chandon, Glass House director, Henry Urbach explained how the house has become more than a museum telling the crowd, “We receive about 13,000 visitors a year many of whom come here as a kind of pilgrammage. The idea that I had for the trust was to take that idea and expand it into what I call Glass House 2.0 and the idea is to take this museum and reanimate it as a place of cultural exchange and a place of new art and new ideas that is inspired by the ideas of Johnson and Whitney, so in the past year we’ve launched exhibitions, programs, performances, and readings. Stay tuned. There’s a lot more to come.” And if this event was any indication for what Urbach has in store, we’ll definitely be making a second pilgrammage.
PAIGE REDDINGER
