Rockefeller Guest House

The Rockefeller Guest House is a building at 242 East 52nd Street in the East Midtown and Turtle Bay neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. Situated on the southern sidewalk of 52nd Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue, it was designed by Philip Johnson and completed in 1950. The residence was constructed as a guest house for philanthropist Blanchette Rockefeller, who was married to John D. Rockefeller III. It was the only private residence in New York City that Johnson designed.

The two-story building contains a symmetrical facade of brick at ground level and glass above. The first story is made of dark red brick in Flemish bond. The second story is made of six translucent glass panels divided by four steel bars. Johnson designed the interior of the guest house with a living and dining room facing 52nd Street, as well as a bedroom in the rear. These are separated by an outdoor garden with a pool, separated from either room by fully glazed walls.

Johnson was hired to design the guest house in 1948 for Blanchette Rockefeller, who wanted a separate building to store her modern art collection, as her husband did not appreciate modern art. The house was constructed from 1949 to 1950 and initially hosted many functions for the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), for which Blanchette Rockefeller was a patron. The house was donated to MoMA in 1955 and was then occupied by several residents, including Johnson himself between 1971 and 1979. The Rockefeller Guest House was sold in 1989, becoming the first house to be sold at an art auction in New York City. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Rockefeller Guest House as an official landmark in 2000.

The Rockefeller Guest House is at 242 East 52nd Street in the East Midtown and Turtle Bay neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It is along the southern sidewalk of 52nd Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. The land lot has an area of 2,500 square feet (230 m²), a frontage of 25 feet (7.6 m) along 52nd Street, and a depth of 100 feet (30 m). Nearby buildings include 312 and 314 East 53rd Street one block northwest and 303 East 51st Street one block southeast.

In the early 20th century, a large portion of Turtle Bay's population was involved in the arts or architecture, and structures such as the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design and the residential Turtle Bay Gardens and Beaux-Arts Apartments were constructed for this community. William Lescaze's renovation of an existing brownstone townhouse on 48th Street, and its subsequent conversion into the Lescaze House, inspired similar renovations to other structures in the neighborhood. The specific site of the Rockefeller Guest House had previously been occupied by two structures built around 1870. According to the guest house's architect Philip Johnson, there was a small house in the rear and a coach house in the front, separated by "a gap and a weed patch".

The Rockefeller Guest House, designed by Philip Johnson and completed in 1950, was one of the architect's first designs in New York City, as well as his only design of a residence in the city. When the Rockefeller Guest House was commissioned, Johnson was not yet a licensed architect in New York state, but he was already a noted proponent of the International Style of architecture. Frederick C. Genz, an architect with Johnson's firm, was the associate architect. Murphy-Brinkworth Construction Corp was the general contractor, and the Eipel Engineering Company was the Rockefeller Guest House's structural engineer. Numerous other engineers and contractors were involved in the building's construction.

The two-story facade on 52nd Street is made of dark red brick, black metal, and plate glass. According to Johnson, he built the second floor only to give the impression of height, since he felt "there is no point to doing a one-story house in New York—it would look all wrong". As Johnson said in the 1970s: 'The top of the house doesn't exist for me." The interior arrangement was patterned after Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's unbuilt designs for "court houses" in the 1930s. Johnson was likely also influenced by Mies's designs for buildings on the Illinois Institute of Technology campus. The previous coach house and residence on the site inspired the house's outdoor garden, which is placed between the indoor living/dining room at the front and the bedroom at the rear.

Much of the first story along 52nd Street is clad with red brick in Flemish bond and tan mortar. This material was used to complement the school building immediately to the east, which was demolished after 2019. The guest house's brick wall is about 9 feet (2.7 m) high and extends to the lot line. The brick wall is flanked by a strip of metal on either side, separating the main facade from the west (right) and east (left) walls, which are mostly composed of plain brick walls. At the center of the 52nd Street facade is a wooden door that is as tall as the surrounding brick wall. This door is composed of seven vertical planks, an eyehole, and a mailbox slot. The door is surrounded by a frame made of wood. There are brass digits "2 4 2" on the brick wall right of the door.