I recently spent a weekend in and around New Canaan, Connecticut and discovered there’s a whole bucolic, art-filled world an hour outside of the bubbling, buzzing city that is Manhattan. Here are my top tips for a day  or a weekend beyond the Big Apple.

Legendary American architect Philip Johnson’s modernist Glass House is a must-see, as well as the 13 other stunning structures on the 49-acre compound a mere 50 miles from New York City.  Lived in by Johnson from 1949 until his death in 2005, the glass and painted steel pavilion is mesmerising in its zen simplicity – a cube.

With 360 degree views and a central fireplace that divides the space, the pavilion  looks just as contemporary today as it did when Johnson built it nearly seventy years ago. The house sits on a knoll overseeing a pond and some woods beyond. Nature is everywhere. Add the possibility of a roaring fire and  nirvana meets colonial New Canaan.

(The house is) more of a landscape than it is a work of architecture.. It’s more a memory of the English parks of the 18th century, which are called English gardens for some reason, said the late visionary.

Most of the furniture came from Johnson’s Manhattan apartment and is designed by Mies van der Rohe. Be sure to book a tour on-line (weekday tours are less busy) and experience firsthand Johnson’s genius.

It’s the only house in the world where you can see the sunset and the moonrise at the same time, standing in the same place, Johnson once  said.

Beyond the house there are several galleries to peruse. Alongside the permanent  collection of 20th century painting and sculpture are the temporary exhibitions; This summer’s special guests are Robert Indiana and Julian Schnabel, the most represented artist in the collection after Frank Stella.

A wood sculpture by Schnabel …

This is the eye-catching gunnite Da Monsta building, where Johnson was influenced by  artist and friend Frank Stella.

New Canaan is an easy train ride from Grand Central. The Glass House and surrounding 49 acres  is open from May through November,  everyday except Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Visitors are picked up from the Visitor Center (handily located across the street from the train station)  and driven to the nearby Glass House.

Stop in at the Design Store adjacent to the Visitor Center. It’s full of novel objects., like these Carl Aubock brass paperweights …

Be sure to take the fast train from Grand Central to New Canaan which takes just over an hour. Despite the train’s ease and convenience, I recommend renting a car because there’s so much  to see in the area. Check out another exceptional glass building; The River is an undulating 83,000 square foot glass structure  on the expansive nature  conservancy Grace Farms designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects  SANAA.

The meandering snake-like structure

houses everything from the Pavilion and a library  to a  gorgeous basketball gym

and a mouthwatering cafe…

Book a River Walk and Tea tour to see five site specific installations by artists Thomas Demand, Olafur Eliasson, Teresita Fernández, Beatriz Milhazes, and Susan Phillipsz.

Final stop on the cultural Connecticut tour is the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum  in picturesque, historic  Ridgefield, a twenty minute drive from New Canaan. Founded by Larry Aldrich in 1964, the Aldrich is the only museum in  Connecticut dedicated solely to contemporary art. Interesting fact: Philip Johnson attended the first board of trustees meeting in 1964 (small world).

The Aldrich enables artists to try out new things outside the fishbowl of NYC. (Almost like off Broadway – Broadway). The museum is currently showing four artists whose work is loosely linked with text. Tony Matelli’s  bronze Sleepwalker sculpture was an internet sensation three years ago when it appeared on NYC’s Highline…

Here’s his latest sculpture unveiled at the Aldrich earlier this month.

And if your thirst for the arts is still not quenched, a bit further afield is the Brant Foundation Art Study Center in Greenwich and Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven.

If you’re staying overnight, the Glass House’s Christa Carr  recommends the Roger Sherman Inn in New Canaan.

Its owned by a French man so the food is delicious, real French food, says Carr, whose mother is French.

Other local restaurants  Carr likes are Elm and Solé, both on Elm Street, just off of central Main Street.  Bon voyage!

This article also appeared in The Women’s Room Blog. Seductive photos of the Glass House were taken by Robin Hill.  Non-seductive by yours truly.

May, 2017

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or decide ‘Man in Mud’ needs my Girl in Boots (Thomas Schutte, much appreciated), I couldn’t stop snapping.

Kelly Green and Kate – Ellsworth Kelly, you’re a star.

Some things are hard to pose in front of (kind of annoying, but whatever) like starchitect Frank Gehry’s model of the building.  I decided the maquette is cool enough to merit a standalone.

Ditto Eliasson’s reflecting Grotto.

Hey, what am I thinking?! Reflecting?

Gehry’s genius glass creation and civic-minded Bernard Arnault’s passion for art have made Paris even more wonderful – more modern, astounding and breath-taking. This is a must-see for those who get inspired by architecture, design and art.  For the narcissists among us (those with toned right arm biceps), you must go fully charged and flash those pearly whites.

February, 2015

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