What’s Happening: After decades of being closed to the public, the Glass House’s brick counterpart opens its doors and reveals even more about Philip Johnson’s complicated legacy.

The Download: The Glass House is often referred to mononymously, but savvy pilgrims eager to experience Philip Johnson’s former New Canaan residence soon discover a sprawling 49-acre campus encompassing 14 wildly different feats of architecture. There’s a subterranean bunker packed with art, an arched concrete folly on a pond, a one-room stone greige studio, and an airy sculpture gallery inspired by Greece’s seaside stairways. Many of these buildings came to light when the National Trust for Historic Preservation opened the estate to the public as a museum in 2007, but one—an unassuming brick guesthouse an 80-foot jaunt from the Glass House—had long been closed due to water damage. Thanks to an extensive restoration timed to the campus’s 75th anniversary season, it can now come into full view.

Johnson conceived and built the Glass House’s squat brick companion concurrently and always considered them two parts of a whole. Where he modeled the former after his mentor Ludwig Mies van Der Rohe’s glassy Farnsworth House, its opaque counterpart instead served as an oft-revisited canvas for stylistic experimentation. Elegant interior arches were referenced at his opulent Beck House in Dallas; the bedroom’s Fortuny fabric reappeared at the Four Seasons restaurant. Such seductive details drove scholars to classify the Brick House as a queer space, bolstered by Johnson living as a closeted gay man for most of his career. He and his partner, the curator David Whitney, needed a private domain—one not flanked by a fishbowl—to protect Johnson’s professional profile from prying eyes. The house has only three small porthole windows, each facing the back. When Frank Lloyd Wright visited, he called it a “fuck room.”

Though the decidedly louche sleeping quarters suggest otherwise, there was more to the Brick House than fucking. A quaint reading room outfitted with enveloping Gaetano Pesce chairs and 950 volumes about subjects like philosophy, art, and history speak to Johnson’s variegated interests. (He stored his books on architecture elsewhere.) They also reveal his troubling embrace of Fascism, which he briefly entertained before distancing himself from the ideology in 1940. Some scholars believe he was “deeply invested” for much longer and that traces of his troubling politics were built into the Glass House. Whatever the case may be, the campus plans to hire a full-time historian to delve into his beliefs more fully. For now, the Brick House, which opened for tours this past weekend, illuminates the dusty corners of a complicated figure who put up more walls than once thought.

In Their Own Words: “Neither was conceived without the other,” Kirsten Reoch, who was named executive director of The Glass House campus in September, told the New York Times. “So the idea that we’ve been showing and interpreting half the story, it kind of blows your mind.”

Surface Says: Given that the Glass House charges $30,000 for overnight stays, the Brick House might be a cash cow.

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Design enthusiasts seeking secluded stays the next time they pass through Milan needn’t look further than Casa Brivio, a stylish ode to Italy’s midcentury maestros just a short walk from the Duomo. Conceived by owners Filippo and Alberico Brivio Sforza, whose family history has been linked to Milan for nearly 600 years, the hotel truly enmeshes guests in the Milanese lifestyle. That’s largely thanks to the formidable talents of designers Matteo Thun & Partners and Cassina Custom Interiors, which infused the 16 rentable suites with understated touches that forge the ambience of a well-heeled European apartment.

The homage starts in reception, where wall boiserie and the decorative ceiling’s rhombus pattern reference Gio Ponti. Stroll through the serene courtyard facing the stone-paved Via Cornaggia to access its two rationalist buildings, where original limestone-clad spiral staircases illuminated by Luigi Caccia Dominioni’s Murano glass lamps whisk guests up to their spacious corner or junior suites.

Cassina furniture outfits each, from classics (Marco Zanuso’s sultry Lady Armchair) to newcomers (Thun and Benedetto Fasciana’s wispy Bixia Chair) that complement the moody palette spanning dark green velvets and reinforced Viennese straw to brass-toned aluminum. The apartment-like atmosphere means no on-site dining or room service, but its central location means fine Milanese trattorias and charming cafés are a just short walk away.

Last week, New York’s design cognoscenti gathered to toast the opening of Annex Giancarlo Valle, the interior designer’s first gallery space. Occupying the ground floor and basement of the Tribeca storefront once operated by Patrick Parrish, the 3,000-square-foot gallery encompasses a living room, foyer, dining room, library, and bar, each imbued with the whimsy and sense of discovery evocative of Valle’s interiors. Guests perused his most recent collection of furniture, lighting, and objects while enjoying Lallier champagne, LALO palomas, caviar, and canapés.

When was it? April 30

Where was it? Tribeca, New York

Who was there? Michael Bargo, Abby Bangser, Colin King, Beverly Nguyen, Andy Baraghani, Simone Bodmer-Turner, Rafael Prieto, Gabriel Hendifar, Joseph Altuzarra, Ulla Johnson, Billy Cotton, Adam Charlap Hyman, and more.

When: Until Sept. 22

Where: Mississippi Museum of Art

What: Noah Saterstrom embarked on a years-long journey to learn about his great-grandfather, a traveling optometrist who spent the final four decades of his life at the Mississippi State Insane Hospital. Here, he channels his findings into a monumental work that expands on his Mississippi ancestry and suppressed Southern histories. The centerpiece is a giant painting composed of 183 canvases that depict episodes of Smith’s life, but no less important are artifacts from the asylum and memorials to the 7,000 people whose remains were found there.

Submaterial creates thoughtful and precisely handcrafted design pieces for modern interiors. In their simplicity and beauty, these works explore the territory between objects of art and objects of design. Submaterial has always focused on natural and sustainable materials such as wool felt, cork, wood, and leather. These materials are fashioned by hand into beautifully surfaced wallcoverings, panels, and screens by skilled fabricators using environmentally conscious and lean manufacturing processes.

Surface Says: Submaterial harnesses the elegance and beauty of natural materials like wood, leather, and wool to create its selection of handcrafted artwork and décor.

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