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Every year, The Glass House hosts “Community Day”—a one-day event where the nonprofit organization gives away free tour tickets to residents on a first-come, first-served basis.
It’s a way to “give back to the community and hopefully draw in people who’ve never been to the Glass House or just never felt that it was easy to get in to,” said Kirsten Reoch, the executive director of The Glass House.
Each year, residents use a specific code to redeem their free tickets. This year Community Day will be held Thursday, Aug. 21, and that code is NEWCANAAN2025.
“It’s a special opportunity to get to know new people,” Reoch said.
“Tours are available on our website and using the code, residents can get up to four tickets,” she added.
According to Reoch, tours commence “in the morning and go through to the end of the afternoon.”
Tours can vary in duration, lasting between “an hour, an hour and a half, or two hours.”
She added, “It’s a very popular event. We’ve always been able to fill all the tours on that day, so hopefully people will see the code and jump to it because the tickets go quickly.”
Each tour has a maximum capacity of 13 people and tours can vary – individuals can tour The Glass House, the art galleries, or take an extended tour of the grounds.
“It’s always a small group,” Reoch said of the tours, highlighting that the intimate group provides a space to “really communicate, talk, and ask questions of their educator who guides them around.”
Built between 1949 and 1995 by architect Philip Johnson, The Glass House is a National Trust Historic site. Its striking 49-acre landscape is dotted with 14 structures, including the Glass House, painting and sculpture galleries and—for the first time this year since the site became public, The Brick House.
Reoch said she’s “always surprised how many people I meet in this town who have never been to this iconic landmark.”
“It’s so important to New Canaan history and culture, so I think that when people see this opportunity to come on a free tour, they jump to it and they grab those tickets,” she said.
Reoch added: “We look forward to getting to know people who have not been here before, and we hope that it’s the beginning of a long relationship. Once people come here, they tend to come back and bring visitors and family or attend our lectures and our arts programs. We look forward to bringing new people into our circle.”