Philip Johnson Glass House [CT]

Description

The Philip Johnson Glass House aims for the 47-acre campus to become a center-point for the preservation of modern architecture, landscape, and art, as well as a canvas for inspiration, experimentation and cultivation honoring the legacy of Philip Johnson (1906–2005) and David Whitney (1939–2005). Philip Johnson was a recognized modernist architect, having been an associate of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the recipient of the first Pritzker Architecture Prize, and the founder of MoMA's Department of Architecture and Design. David Whitney was a curator, collector, passionate advocate of contemporary art, and Johnson's life partner. The Glass House, designed 1945–1947 and completed 1949, grew from the inspirational legacy of the German Glasarchitektur drawings of the 1920s. With walls made of glass, permitting the exterior view to inundate the interior, the house speaks to minimalism, geometry, proportion, reflectivity, and opacity versus transparency. The site includes numerous other structures designed by Johnson, including painting and sculpture studios, a lake pavilion, and the so-called brick house.

The site offers tours and an informative media installation.

Kentuck Knob [PA]

Description

Kentuck Knob, completed in 1953, is one of the last private residences to be designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959), internationally renowned for his organic architecture. Designed on a hexagonal module, Kentuck Knob is a small Usonian home. Usonian design, promoted by Wright, refers to design which is affordable for the common people. The site also boasts a collection of contemporary sculpture, including work by Claes Oldenburg (born 1829), best known for drastically altering the scale or texture of the objects he depicts.

The site offers tours.

Victorville Fire Museum [CA]

Description

The Victorville Fire Museum presents a collection of firefighting equipment and memorabilia dating from the 1930s, as well as artifacts and information pertinent to the historical development of the Victorville Fire Department. The museum is housed in one of the city's earliest fire stations, Station No. 1.

The museum offers exhibits and tours.

Governor's Mansion State Historic Park [CA]

Description

California's executive mansion, popularly known as the Governor's Mansion, was built in 1877 for Albert and Clemenza Gallatin. Albert was a partner in the Sacramento hardware store of Huntington & Hopkins. The State of California purchased the house from Joseph and Louisa Steffens to use as a home for California's first families in 1903 for $32,500. Victorian architecture was somewhat out of style by then, but the house was suitably impressive, conveniently located, and comfortable. Today's guests see marble fireplaces from Italy, gold-framed mirrors from France, and exquisitely handcrafted hinges and doorknobs, all of which are reminders of the Gallatins and the Victorian era. Outside some of the Mansion's abundant vegetation includes flowers, shrubs, and trees dating back to 1877. When visitors look behind the grape-stake fence and see Governor Brown's swimming pool built in 1959, they are reminded that the Governor's Mansion State Historic Park is really a walk through time.

The park offers tours and occasional recreational and educational events.

Hagley Museum and Library [DE]

Description

Hagley Museum and Library collects, preserves, and interprets the unfolding history of American enterprise. Hagley is the site of the gunpowder works founded by E. I. du Pont in 1802. This example of early American industry includes restored mills, a workers' community, and the ancestral home and gardens of the du Pont family.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, educational programs, research library access, demonstrations, and recreational and educational events (including living history events).

Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum [IA]

Description

The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum is a nationally recognized center for the study of 20th–century history and the American presidency, as well as offering exhibits relevant to the life of Herbert Hoover (1874–1964), 31st President of the United States.

The site offers exhibits, a research library, guided tours, and special events including concerts and reenactments. The website offers a variety of other online sources for students and educators, including lesson plans; games; digital image archives; digital copies of major Hoover documents; and information and activities focusing on the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867–1957), pioneer and author of Little House in the Big Woods and its sequels.

Oakleigh Historic House [AL]

Description

The Oakleigh Historic House presents society, working class, and servant life in the mid 20th century along the Gulf Coast. The Greek Revival structure was built circa 1833 as the home of James W. Roper, cotton factor. The 1850 Cook's house served as the property slave quarters, and the 1850 Cox-Deasy House presents local history circa World War II.

The site offers period rooms and guided tours of the main house.

Sam Bell Maxey House State Historic Site [TX]

Description

Samuel Bell Maxey and his wife, Marilda, moved into their fashionable new home on the south side of Paris, TX, in 1868. Built in the High Victorian Italianate style, the frame house, plus book house and stable, were a progressive addition to the city's architecture and a proper home for the ex-Confederate general and later United States Senator. Maxey moved to Paris with his family in 1857. Construction of the house began in 1867 and it was remodeled in 1911. Members of the Maxey family lived in the house until 1966. The house has been restored and furnished to reflect almost 100 years of continuous use by the Maxey family.

The site offers tours.

Stephen Phillips House

Description

This Federal-style mansion contains a family collection that spans five generations. Visitors can see artifacts from near and far, hear the stories of the Phillips family, and experience over 200 years of history in the New England tradition.

The house offers tours.

Lehigh Valley Railroad Historical Society and Museum

Description

The Society operates a museum housed inside a wooden New York Central Railroad freight station located along the old "Auburn Road" line in Shortsville, New York. The freight station was built around 1900 and was used as a church and a machine shop before the Society purchased it in October 2001; today, it displays exhibits exploring the history of the Lehigh Valley Railroad.

The museum offers exhibits.