Philip Johnson’s Wolfhouse asks for $2.9m

In the same year he was putting the finishing touches on The Glasshouse in New Canaan, Philip Johnson designed this Newburgh, NY property for local department store owner Benjamin V Wolf, who requested a modern country residence that captures views of the Hudson River. Fully restored, the 1950 jewel is now on the market for $2.9m.

The Wolfhouse, as it became known, shares many of the same architectural expressions as its more famous cousin, including free-flowing open circulation and floor-to-ceiling glass walls that integrate the scenery with the interior.

Johnson was a key proponent of the Modernist movement in the USA as the head of MoMA’s architecture department in the 1930s. However, his architectural legacy has gone through a reckoning in recent years, following a string of articles and biographies revealing the extent of his fascist sympathies throughout the 1930s, including trips to Nazi rallies in Germany and establishing the Gray Shirts. These revelations (rumours long suppressed by powerful friends) have forced some to separate Johnson, the designer, from Johnson, the man; others feel that it casts his architectural legacy in an inextricably complex light.

Photography: Wolfhouse/Compass

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Rather than shy away from Johnson’s problematic legacy, the Wolfhouse’s current owners, creative directors Jeremy Parker and Jiminie Ha, chose to turn the house into an inviting space for all—firstly, as a BIPOC-led arts hub and secondly, as a holiday home, welcoming travellers from all corners of the globe.

The pair bought the house in 2020 and set about renovating the Modernist home inside and out, working directly from floorplans and photographs found in the archive of Columbia University to return it to its near-original state. Wolfhouse now sleeps up to eight people across four bedrooms, and its spaces are curated as a ‘living showroom’ for furniture and artworks, including its kitchen by USM Modular Furniture, made entirely with reused and recycled parts.

After five years of stewardship, they’re parting ways with the residence, which is listed via agent Esteban Gomez and listing partner Melissa Marcogliese of Compass.