A See-Through Icon Of Architecture

Before then, visits were by invitation only and were given out sparingly to friends and students of Johnson's, who taught architecture at Yale University in New Haven, Conn. This exclusivity added to the undeniable mystique of the Glass House.

Our guide is Gigi Fernandez, an architect who worked in Johnson's New York office from 1996 to 2004. Ms. Fernandez says the architect's aim was to create a sense of procession: He wanted visitors to feel each transition from the moment they entered the grounds until they caught their first glimpse of the house. She calls it "hide and reveal," and it's an architectural tease.

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