The New Canaan Library has announced the launch of a national online auction of the Mirror House, the modern structure that has been featured on the library’s grounds at the corner of Maple Street and South Avenue in New Canaan since fall 2020.
Until Saturday, May 1, interested buyers may register at www.newcanaanlibrary.org where further auction details and terms can be found. The auction began April 12.
The Mirror House is being sold to make way for upcoming construction activity for the new library.
“Up until early spring, we were using the Mirror House as a unique way to introduce the public to the library’s plans for our new building,” Campaign CEO for the new New Canaan Library Ellen Sullivan Crovatto said.
The starting bid for the Mirror House is $75,000. The building itself and its contents, including the HVAC system, installed lighting, and over $18,000 of iconic Herman Miller furniture and accessories, is valued at over $125,000. Proceeds will benefit the library.
“We’ve really enjoyed partnering with the Herman Miller team who instantly recognized the great marriage of their design heritage with the Mirror House,” Crovatto said. “We thought we could offer a glimpse of what a reimagined, contemporary home office environment might look like by offering free daily use to the public. Now some lucky individual or family will be able to use it as their own, turnkey home office, or possibly as a pool house, guest space, yoga studio or writer’s retreat. Fortunately, it has been designed to be easily lifted onto a long flatbed truck and driven to its new home.”
The 220-square-foot building, designed by Estonian company ÖÖD House, is clad in mirror on three sides, allowing in natural light while affording privacy to those inside. Currently, the building is reportedly the only one of its kind in the United States. Initially, the building arrived unassembled by containership to the library in the spring of 2020 ,when it was assembled.
Through a collaboration with International Furniture Manufacturer Herman Miller, the interior was recently outfitted with a special collection of iconic and ergonomic modern designs and accessories and offered as a home office daily to library members, free of charge.
The Mirror House was designed by an Estonian design team strongly influenced by Philip Johnson’s Glass House and the mid-century modern architects, including the Harvard Five, whose work is also echoed in the new library design. The Mirror House is the first and thus far only one of its kind in the U.S. ÖÖD houses have been installed throughout Europe, but COVID-19 restrictions prevented all other deliveries from arriving to the U.S.
Two open houses, Saturday April 17, and Saturday, April 24, both from 9 a.m. to noon, will welcome the public to view the Mirror House and interior.
For all inquiries, Contact Crovatto, [email protected] for all inquiries.
Visit oodhouse.com for more information about the designers of the Mirror House.
The New Canaan Library is located at 151 Main Street.