The Edith Farnsworth House: Architecture, Preservation, Culture

by Michelangelo Sabatino, Dietrich Neumann (Commentary), Scott Mehaffey (Foreword)

The comprehensive story of an icon of modern the Edith Farnsworth House, designed by Mies van der Rohe One of the most famous residences in modern history, a glass and steel marvel that seems to float above its site, the Edith Farnsworth House had been legendary in the public imagination long before it could be widely accessed. This book charts the house’s original design by Mies van der Rohe and periods of neglect, flooding, and new ownership by Lord Peter Palumbo. Now publicly accessible and celebrating twenty years of being owned and administered by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, this icon of modern architecture commissioned by client and patron Edith Farnsworth now gets its due. The Edith Farnsworth House is one of the most prized residences in modern architectural history, whose sometimes fraught history culminates in its publicly accessible life today. The book, which newly foregrounds the key role of client Edith Farnsworth, is written and edited by Michelangelo Sabatino, who contributes deep expertise on modernist architecture, and includes an essay by architectural historian Dietrich Neumann, excerpts of Edith Farnsworth’s unpublished memoir, as well as interviews with Mies’s grandson Dirk Lohan, and the house’s second owner, Lord Peter Palumbo. Published in association with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, this book is published is a trove of cultural and visual history, and includes photographs by Hedrich Blessing, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and Annie Leibovitz, in addition to documentation of cultural collaborations with artists, designers, and performance troupes such as Virgil Abloh, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, and Gerard & Kelly.

256 pages, Hardcover

Published June 5, 2024

Reviews

[John Morello · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good coffee table book, but with a twist. This one provides revealing commentary to go with the pictures. And perhaps for the first time, readers get to see what Dr. Edith Farnsworth, patron and resident of the famous glass house along Illinois' Fox River thought about living in an architectural icon. The book provides the customary appreciation for Mies van der Rohe's work on the Farnsworth House, and his impact on American architecture. It also provides a long overdue nod to Dr. Farnsworth for her role not only as Mies' patron, but also as a promoter of his work, and her refusal to be treated as anything less than an equal in their relationship.

[Servabo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't see nothing special about this house, except for the hay field next door?