The National Trust announces new Executive Director of The Glass House

NEW CANAAN, Conn. (July 14, 2023) – The Glass House, a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, announced today the appointment of Kirsten Reoch as the site’s Fourth Executive Director starting September 11, 2023.

Reoch is an experienced non-profit leader with expertise in cultural resources, preservation planning and managing complex historic facilities and operations with high public engagement. She currently serves as the Director of Capital Planning, Preservation, and Institutional Relations for the Park Avenue Armory, a city, state, and national landmark in Manhattan.

“I am delighted to welcome Kirsten Reoch as the next Executive Director of The Glass House. Her work at the Park Avenue Armory, where she has played a central role in restoring one of New York’s great works of architecture and helping it to become one of the city’s most exciting arts venues, underscores her broad range of skills. We look forward to having her warmth, her sharp critical insights, and her strong administrative leadership as The Glass House takes on the challenges of restoring its Philip Johnson buildings and continuing its role as an essential place not just in the Town of New Canaan, but in the architecture and art community across the world,” said Paul Goldberger, Chair of the Glass House Advisory Board.

Reoch has served the Armory for over twenty-five years. During her time at the Armory, she has helped manage over $165 million in construction projects including working with the design and conservation team to ensure that the restoration of the Armory is performed to the highest standards. Reoch has performed all the historical research required for the Armory project, including architectural and archaeological research, research on the art works and furniture collection, and social and military research about the Seventh Regiment. She also managed all government relations and public capital fundraising. For the past seventeen years she has additionally curated The Malkin Lecture Series, with four speakers annually presenting topics related to the history of the Armory and the Gilded Age. She is the former Senior Project Coordinator for The Walt Disney Company on the restoration of the New Amsterdam Theatre and acted as Project Associate for Tribeca Productions on the planning for film studios within historic industrial structures in Brooklyn. She has worked for a variety of community preservation non-profits including Landmark West! and the DC Preservation League.

Reoch is returning to the National Trust as she began her career in historic preservation at the Decatur House, another National Trust for Historic Preservation site. Reoch holds an MS in Historic Preservation and Planning from Columbia University and a BA in Art History from Mount Holyoke College.

The Glass House, built between 1949 and 1995 by architect Philip Johnson, is a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation located in New Canaan, CT. The pastoral 49-acre landscape comprises fourteen structures, including the Glass House (1949), and features a permanent collection of 20th-century paintings and sculpture, along with temporary exhibitions. The campus serves as a catalyst for the preservation and interpretation of modern architecture, art, and design and a canvas for inspiration and experimentation. The tour season runs from April through December. Private tours are available throughout the year.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded nonprofit organization that works to save America’s historic places to enrich our future, reimagining historic sites for the 21st century. The guiding principle of this initiative is that historic sites must be dynamic, relevant, and evolving to foster an understanding of history and culture that is critical, sensory, and layered.