Philip Johnson Glass House

Creating the Philip Johnson Glass House as a public site illustrates 3 case studies: How to define a new business model for historic house museums; How to create a center for Modern preservation principals for the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP); and how to create a unique experience within the original owner's legacies in a private neighborhood. MacLear's role as the inaugural director was to develop the strategy, staff, programs and financial capacity to convert a 47 acre site with 14 buildings from private to public. We built out a visitor center, established tour operations for 5 consecutive sold out seasons. Programs focused on the legacy of mentorship and fostering new talent by bringing art, architecture and design leaders from around the world to host dialogues. The Glass House became the Center for Modernism for NTHP by surveying 100+ modern homes in New Canaan to help build a field card now including Modern architecture measures. We purchased surrounding property to preserve the view shed and worked to develop scholarship on modern preservation thru each site project.