The goal of both exhibitions has been to showcase the achievements of modernism: good affordable design that can be bought by just about anyone.

ECONOMIST: Car design

As the founder and longtime head of the Museum of Modern Art's pioneering Department of Architecture and Design, Johnson had introduced Modernism to America as the International Style in the now landmark 1932 exhibition done in collaboration with the historian Henry Russell Hitchcock.

WSJ: Philip Johnson: Short of Attention Span, Long on Aesthetics

"It's clean, straightforward modernism, " says Scheerer of Thomas's design, which absorbs visitors with an affable hospitality.

WSJ: The House That Gucci Built

You could say Mason's oeuvre grapples with modernism versus tradition, with rampant consumerism versus sustainability, with strict functionality of craft versus design with a message--and you'd be right on all three counts.

FORBES: Above photo courtesy of John Langford

Starting on March 1, 2012, the public will have access to this masterpiece of midcentury modernism, by way of an orientation tour that begins at the new visitor center, which by design reflects the style of the original estate.

FORBES: Walter Annenberg's Sunnylands Estate To Become A 'Camp David West'