But for someone, like my husband, who is tagging along with the art lover (me) and wants to know, “What is this place, why does it matter, and who the heck is Philip Johnson,” such basic information was in short supply. In the visitors’ center, for example, one wall featured 24 monitors. Each played a different silent video, a “visual poem.” One shows the cards in Johnson’s rolodex. It’s a who’s who of the art and financial elite: Donald Judd, Jasper Johns, David Rockefeller, Julian Schnabel, Andy Warhol, and so on. For my husband, it was as thrilling as a random page in the phone book. The names alone meant nothing. Coming in equipped with a bit more context, I loved the videos—but there was no material for visitors in need of a true orientation. Still, it was a gorgeous day and one didn’t need to know much to enjoy the bucolic setting.

The Rosenbach Museum on the other hand presumed its visitors needed context. The house tour started in a room that featured 20 or so framed photos on a wall. As the guide told us about the Rosenbachs, their famous friends, noted authors whose works they collected, etc., she pointed to the relevant photo. Low tech but effective, and it was in keeping with the house’s yesteryear atmosphere. (The museum’s galleries in an adjoining, modernized townhouse featured touch-screen monitors. So, using photos in the orientation space was, I think, a considered choice.) Equipped with a basic sense of “What is this place, why does it matter, and who the heck are The Rosenbachs,” we both enjoyed this tour and learned more along the way. My husband admitted that he had tuned out early at Glass House because the guide’s patter made him feel like an outsider.

Great photos. Catching the shadow play on artworks in the Sculpture Gallery was by far the most amazing part of the visit for me. Oddest moment was when two guests leaned back against a Stella in the underground painting gallery while listening to the tour guide, who chatted on without blinking an eye or issuing a reprimand.

Hope they’ve been able to deal with the preservation issue confronting Brick House; it was closed during our visit for renovation, which was disappointing.