The Menokin Foundation has announced the commencement of construction on The Glass House Project, a preservation endeavor to transform the ruins of Menokin, the home of Declaration of Independence signer Francis Lightfoot Lee and his wife Rebecca Tayloe Lee. The project will preserve the remaining portions of the 1769 Colonial-style home and replace missing walls, floors, and sections of the roof with glass.

The foundation is working with Machado Silvetti, a Boston-based architecture and design firm, along with a team of experts, to realize the ambitious project. Also on the project team are Consigli Construction Co. Inc (construction); DATA Investigations, LLC (archaeology); Eckersley O’Callaghan (glass design); Encore Sustainable Architects (historical architect); John Fidler (preservation technology); Reed Hilderbrand (landscape architecture); and Tillotson Design Associates (lighting design). 

"The remains of the Menokin Plantation challenged our imagination to develop a design that, while preserving and restoring what exists, would provide the visitor with an innovative, distinctive experience," said Jorge Silvetti, co-founding principal of Machado Silvetti in a statement.  

Of the project, James O’Callaghan, co-founder of Eckersley O’Callaghan said: "Working with glass as a building material is an idea that was first perceived as intriguing but impractical, even crazy. The innate curiosity of being engineers, combined with what proved to be an informed bravery, helped us push the boundaries of what you can do with this exceptional material. The Glass House Project is a unique expression of these possibilities—it literally and metaphorically gives a transparent view of history and of the art and science of construction." 

The Glass House Project is due to be complete in early 2023.