ML
TRAVEL
DESIGN DESTINATION:
Palm Springs WHILE AWAY A WEEKEND AT THE EPICENTER OF MODERNISM, WHERE YOU CAN SEE—AND STAY IN—SOME OF THE WEST’S MOST ICONIC MIDCENTURY DESIGNS
PHOTO BY DAVID GLOMB
A DRIVE THROUGH THE NEIGHBORHOODS of Palm Springs, California, reads like a roster of the midcentury’s most notable architects—Wexler, Williams, Cody and Frey, to name a few—who designed homes for some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, from Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope to Elvis Presley and Lucille Ball. Thanks to this confluence of moneyed clientele and forward-thinking architects, Palm Springs quickly became home to the greatest concentration of Midcentury Modern architecture in the country. The dramatic landscape of towering mountains and stark desert inspired these visionary architects to design sleek modern homes that respond to and embrace the environment. Their design aesthetic—flat roofs that seemingly float above walls of glass, deep overhangs that shield rooms from the sun, and open floor plans that merge seamlessly with the outdoors—would become known as Desert Modernism, and to this day, its informal yet elegant indoor/outdoor style inspires architects throughout the West and around the world. STORY BY CHRISTINE DEORIO
Kaufmann House, 1946;
470 West Vista Chino Road Designed for the same Edgar Kaufmann Sr. who commissioned “Fallingwater” from Frank Lloyd Wright, this glass, steel, aluminum and stone landmark (above) is one of the best-known designs by architect Richard Neutra, whose buildings are considered the embodiment of modernism’s International Style. After enduring years of neglect and insensitive renovations, it was restored to its original glory in 1997 by Los Angeles-based architecture firm Marmol Radziner. >> ML | www.mountainliving.com 43