Midcentury Modern aficionados get ready! The untouched living room of design legends Ray and Charles Eames wil soon be available for public viewing at the Los Angeles County Museum as part of an upcoming exhibition- California Design, 1930-1965: “Living in a Modern Way.” The exhibition will showcase California’s role in shaping home and interior design in the US. The show will open October 1, and will be available through April. While the living room contents are on display, a complete renovation of the home will take place under the direction of the Eames family, the first renovation since the home’s construction in 1949. More information can be found at LACMA’s website: http://lacma.wordpress.com/

Derek Lam, San-Francisco based fashion designer, showed his line at new York’s fashion week- and interestingly enough listed Palm Springs as his inspiration for the line!  He specifically listed the Kaufman house, designed by Richard Neutra as an influence in the program’s notes.  We’re glad that our great city was such an inspiration for a talented designer.

To celebrate the Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and Neighborhoods of the Modern Movement’s (do.co,mo.mo) National Tour Day on October 8 and 9, 2011, PALM SPRINGS MODERNISM WEEK is pleased to offer its most popular event, the Modernism Double Decker Bus Architectural Tour, a fun, open-air, double decker bus tour of Palm Springs’ notable mid-century modern architecture.

The tour is conducted by a guide who is knowledgeable about the local renowned modernist architects and their striking architecture, as well as Palm Springs’ fascinating 90-year history as a glamorous destination and celebrity outpost. The three-hour bus tour focuses on the exteriors of dozens of residential homes and commercial mid-century modern buildings throughout Palm Springs. Participants will learn the history of Palm Springs’ architecture and the celebrated architects that put modernism on the map. As ground zero for mid-century modern architecture, and with the world’s largest concentration of mid-century modern architecture, participants will see why Palm Springs draws modernism aficionados from around the world.

As a bonus, participants will receive free admission to the architecturally-significant Palm Springs Art Museum, designed by the late modernist architect E. Stewart Williams, a 10% discount from the Museum’s gift shop, a complimentary booklet on Class 1 Historic Sites of Palm Springs produced by the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation, and a tour map of modern architecture in Palm Springs from the Palm Springs Modern Committee.
$75

For more tickets, go to: http://www.ticketderby.com/vendor/modernism-week-id-1809

According to the visitor’s survey, attendance for the 2011 Modernism Week in Palm Springs was actually up 56% percent- up to 25,550 guests compared to the previous event’s attendance of 16,400.  This brought more than $7.5 million dollars into the valley for the week-long event.  76% of the visitors were not from the Coachella Valley- only 24% of the visitors were locals.  We already anticipating great things for the 2012 Modernism Week, which will be February 16-26; the upcoming event will be extended to a ten-day period, as it was this past year.  For more information, go to http://www.modernismweek.com/index.htm

Exciting news for historic preservation in Palm Springs:  The  Palm Springs Art Museum has purchased the former Santa Fe Savings and Loan bank from Wessman Holdings LLC. This international style 1960 building designed by E. Stewart Williams will be the focus of the museum’s architecture and design exhibitions and programs.
(Photo credit:Santa Fe Federal Savings & Loan, 1960, Julius Shulman (1910 – 2009), photographer; E. Stewart Williams (1909-2005), architect, © J. Paul Getty Trust. Used with permission. Julius Shulman Photography Archive, Research Library at the Getty Research Institute (2004.R.10)

Here’s a copy of the press release: 

“The structure will be restored to original mid-century design and house the museum’s architecture and design collections and provide future space for exhibitions”

June 24, 2011 (Palm Springs, CA) – The Palm Springs Art Museum announced today that it has purchased the historic 1960 Santa Fe Federal Savings and Loan building in Palm Springs from Wessman Holdings LLC. The majority of the initial $2.8 million raised for the project came from the Edwards-Harris Family Trust and Trina Turk and Jonathan Skow and funded the $2.1 million purchase price.Additional amounts raised will be used to fully restore the building to its original mid-century modern design, based on the original E. Stewart Williams architectural working drawings, owned by the museum.In addition, images taken by the famous photographer Julius Shulman of the building (pictured at left) provides further documentation for a complete and accurate restoration.

Both Williams and Shulman are represented on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars on the sidewalk directly in front of this iconic building. Marmol+Radziner Architects of Los Angeles, renowned for their restoration of two of the most significant homes in Palm Springs, the Kaufmann House and the Ship of the Desert, will offer their services pro bono to produce architectural drawings and provide the expertise needed for the restoration.

The building, designed by renowned mid-century modern architect E. Stewart Williams, is located at 300 South Palm Canyon Drive and was originally designed to house the Santa Fe Federal Savings and Loan, which utilized the building until 1980. It then became the American Savings Bank and was then purchased by Sandy and John Wessman in 1997, when it briefly housed the offices of the Palm Springs International Film Festival. It later became the corporate offices of Wessman Holdings and Wessman Development and has been vacant for more than a year.  

“We are thrilled to add this architecturally significant building to the museum’s collection,” said Steven Nash, Executive Director of the Palm Springs Art Museum. “This building will be devoted to architecture and design and provide excellent exhibition, program, and archive study space.  The main museum building, also designed by E. Stewart Williams, has long needed additional space to support the growing architecture and design collections and archives.  The addition of this important building will allow the museum to significantly expand our architecture and design programming.”

The building is a classic mid-century international style structure, and a Class I Historic Site. Situated in a prominent downtown location at the southeast corner of Palm Canyon Drive and Baristo Road, it is a glass pavilion with a lower level containing a vault, meeting space, storage space, kitchen, and restrooms with a total of more than 13,000 square feet.  A prime example of mid-century modern design, the building will will also provide a space for educational programming, community projects and provide a retail merchandise area that will supplement the current museum store.

The principal Palm Springs Art Museum building, on Museum Drive, is also a Class I Historic Site and the museum includes another historic structure as a part of its collection, Frey House II, perched on the San Jacinto mountain directly above the museum.  The Santa Fe Federal Savings and Loan building joins the Frey House II as a stunning example of mid-century modern architecture in the museum’s permanent collection.

“It is an honor and a privilege to help spearhead such an important expansion of the Palm Springs Art Museum,” said Harold J. Meyerman, Chairman of the museum’s Board of Trustees. “Not only is the building a historic landmark, but its location on Palm Canyon will help raise the visibility of the museum to visitors and residents and will become one of the museum’s most important collection holdings.”

“Adding this historically important building to the museum’s collection reflects the growth of interest in architecture in our community,” said Sidney Williams, former chair of the Palm Springs Historic Site Preservation Board, Curator of Architecture and Design and the museum liaison for the Architecture and Design Council (ADC). “The building’s quality and location in Palm Springs, known worldwide as having one of the largest concentrations of modern architecture in the country, makes this an ideal site for educational programming in architecture and design.  It will also allow the museum to offer architecture and design exhibitions, showcase the numerous important gifts and loans the museum has acquired, and enable the museum to pursue additional gifts.”

The Trend Bible for the UK has predicted Palm Springs Style as being a major influence in the UK for the color palette in a range of household products from towels to disposable napkins as well as home furnishings and paint colors! As residents of snazzy Palm Springs, we already knew that we were trendsetters!

UK Style Trends 2012

The Palm Springs’ El Rancho Vista Estates neighborhood (where I live) was featured in the latest version of Atomic Ranch magazine. 

This mid-century Palm Springs enclave consists of home designed mostly by Donald Wexler around 1960.  Over the years it had experienced some urban blight and decay.  However in the past 7 years, the neighborhood has had an extreme makeover!  Many of the mid-century homes have been redone and restored back to the original charm and glory. 

The neighborhood came together recently to form a neighborhood committee, recognized by the City of Palm Springs.  Erik Rosenow, the president of the neighborhood committee (I’m the secretary of the committee), wrote the article that chronicles his experience and info on this cool mid-century Palm Springs neighborhood.  Here’s an excerpt:

“It all started with a flyer on our doorstep in the autumnof 2009 indicating our house was of interest to the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation for a home tour. My wife and I had just purchased a Donald Wexler–designed house in the El Rancho Vista Estates neighborhood and were ecstatic that it could potentially be pushed into the limelight. Little did we know that this event would so positively turn the neighborhood into a community….”

To read the complete article, and order the magazine, please visit the link:  www.atomic-ranch.com

If you’d like to look at homes in the neighborhood, click here.

Twin Palms was the first subdivision built by the Alexander Construction Company in Palm Springs, between 1957 and 1958.  The owner of Alexander Construction Company, Bob Alexander, had his own residence in one of the cul-de-sacs. 

Designed by Palmer & Krisel, the homes featured two configurations, designs “A” and “B.”  “A” had a front door that was accessed on the side of the house through a breezeway; “B” was oriented with the front door facing the street, with a private breezeway between the house and carport. 

 The homes were built on lots that  were around 10,000 square feet, on a 40′ x 40′ concrete pad,  offering approximately 1600 square feet of elegant and efficient living space.  The 3 bath, 2 bedroom homes were designed using simple Post and Beam construction,  thus the interior walls were non-load bearing.  The services were located in the center of the home, including an open atrium off the master bathroom.  HVAC ducting was in the slab which eliminated unsightly soffits, allowing for dramatic ceiling heights throughout the house. 

Corinne Krisel, backyard of Twin Palms Estates home, Palm Springs, 1957, photo by Julius Shulman

The facades of each plan varied, resulting  in a “custom look” to the neighborhood, despite having identical floor plans.  Facades consisted of a range of materials on each house, including concrete block, stucc, stone, conwood panels and wood siding.  The roof lines also varied, consiting of a long and short butterfly, flat and gable roof. 

Each home came with two palm tress in the front yard, hence the name, Twin Palms!  Many of these trees still exist today.  The original price of these Palm Springs homes, were around $30,000.

The Twin Palm neighborhood has remained desireable for architectural and mid-century afficionados who apprecite the character, scale and design of these homes.  Many of the homes have been restored and brought back to their original glory.

1837 Aquanetta is a prime example of the “Butterfly” roof designed “A” Plan. Recently updated to today’s modern standards, this home features some of the most unique architectural details that defines the Twin Palms design- huge clerestory windows that flood the home with light; walls of glass that merge indoors with outdoors; an original concrete block fireplace- open floor plan, beamed tongue and grove dramatic ceilings… The butterfly roof is one of the most sought after roof lines for not only its design but its rarity. With a west facing back yard, beautiful mountain views are visible throughout the living areas.  The Twin Palms neighborhood is close to the Ace Hotel, and Koffi, one of Palm Springs’ most desirable MCM neighborhoods. Great cash generating vacation rental potential too.   Asking price:  $675,000

For more information, please contact The Paul Kaplan Group or visit www.TwinPalmsPS.com