Local Business Q&A: Design Store of The Glass House

In this installment of our Q&A series spotlighting local businesses, we hear from New Canaan’s Christa Carr of The Glass House, whose Design Store is open 24/7 online and in-person at 199 Elm St. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays Dec. 4, 11 and 18, as well as Dec. 20 to 23. 

Here’s our exchange.

New Canaanite: Before we get to The Design Store itself and what you have to offer shoppers this holiday season, talk to us about how the 2021 season is going for The Glass House. How was attendance and how did your special programming go?

Christa Carr: The Glass House has been popular locally with visitors excited to see this historic midcentury modern site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, right here in their backyard– visitors stroll the 49-acre grounds and view the permanent painting and sculpture collections and temporary installations. Currently we have ‘David Hartt: A Colored Garden’ our first garden design on site that we will carry into our 2022 season. Modifications in our tour format and the related reduced pricing for access has resulted in selling out virtually all the season tickets we could make available. These modifications made it possible to greatly increase the number of families and the youth to visit The Glass House, reaching a wider local audience.

I know things are still busy as you ready for spring 2022. In addition to your partnerships and programming in the community, you have The Design Store on Elm Street that welcomes shoppers. Tell us about some of the featured items they can find this year?

The Glass House Design store features a curated selection of modern design objects from Europe and the U.S.—we have objects for the kitchen, for the home office and home décor, coffee table books—as well as limited edition artworks created by artists including Mary Hellmann, Candida Hofer, Vik Muniz, Hiroshi Sugimoto, James Welling, and many more. All proceeds go toward preservation of the site. Our Design Store Manager Dominica Baharian works to secure exclusive distribution of European design objects such as our line of Carl Aubock objects including the popular Modernist paperweight and Glass House Snow Globe (photo). This season we are excited to offer Bauhaus Ornaments (photo)—they have been selling like crazy. We curate a design store gift guide every year.

What should those visiting The Design Store know about your guidelines regarding masks, if there are any?

Masks are recommended but not required.

I know that you came back to Planning & Zoning for some permit modifications to accommodate your needs in terms of getting visitors to The Glass House as the pandemic entered its second year in 2021. How supportive have you found the New Canaan community through all of this? 

The New Canaan community has been tremendously supportive. Cultural foundations such as New Canaan Museum + Historical Society, Grace Farms, Carriage Barn Art Center have been supportive. The New Canaan Community Foundation supports our Glass House presents online programming in partnership with the New Canaan Library. TEDAC and the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce have extremely helpful. We have also had a chance to offer tours to local nonprofits including ABC House, Meals on Wheels, Young Charity League, Newcomers Club, and more.

What else would you like to tell our readers about The Glass House or The Design Store?

The Design store is open on Saturdays in December and the week of Dec 20^th. We are also open by appointment or online anytime. Designstore.theglasshouse.org.

[Past installments of our Q&A series with local businesses this holiday season can be found here.]