The yin to the yang of Philip Johnson’s Glass House, the Brick House—also known as the Guest House—is a critical element of the late architect’s 49-acre estate in New Canaan, Connecticut (a work in progress between 1949 and 1995), which opened to the public as a historic house museum in 2007. Clad in iron-spot brick in a Flemish bond pattern, the 900-square-foot Brick House presents a solid foil to its glazed counterpart, mirroring its 56-foot length across a grassy court and containing the mechanical equipment that supports each, with the pipes and wiring below the ground between them. The Brick House is only half as deep, however, providing cozy quarters for such notable overnight visitors as Andy Warhol and Phyllis Lambert, and—over time—Johnson and his partner David Whitney, who eventually used it as a private retreat until their deaths in 2005.

Designed as guest quarters, the Brick House was built adjacent to its famous glazed neighbor. Photo courtesy The Glass House