CAAL Members had exclusive access to Philip Johnson's Glass House, where they took a 90-minute private tour of the 47-acre Glass House compound, a historical landmark comprised of 14 structures which includes the celebrated Glass House (completed in 1949), a guesthouse, an art gallery, and a sculpture pavilion. CAAL members were also allowed to take photographs during their tour--a privilege not typically granted to visitors of the Glass House!

There were three tours scheduled: One at 10:00 a.m., one at 11:00 a.m., and one at 12:00 p.m.

Members also had free time in New Canaan, where they took advantage of all that New Canaan has to offer, including great restaurants, antique shopping, and famous historical sites.

Read the New York Times description of The Glass House here.

Philip Johnson was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1906. Following his graduation from Harvard's Graduate School of Design in 1943, Johnson designed some of America's greatest modern architectural landmarks. Most notable is his private residence, the Glass House, a 47-acre property in New Canaan, Connecticut. Other works include: the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden at The Museum of Modern Art, numerous homes, New York's AT&T Building (now Sony Plaza), Houston's Transco (now Williams) Tower and Pennzoil Place, the Fort Worth Water Garden, and the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. An associate of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in the 1950s, Johnson worked with the modern master on the design of the Seagram Building and its famed Four Seasons Restaurant.

Before practicing architecture, Johnson was the founding Director of the Department of Architecture at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. His landmark 1932 exhibition, The International Style, introduced modern architecture to the American public. Johnson continued a relationship with MoMA throughout his life as a curator, architect, trustee, and patron. He donated more than 2,000 works of art to the Museum including works by Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and Robert Rauschenberg.

Johnson was also a singular tastemaker, influencing architecture, art, and design during the second-half of the twentieth century. He referred to the Glass House site as his "fifty-year diary."