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Palm Springs Modern Architect Donald A. Wexler

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A Closer Look At Palm Springs Modern Architect Donald A. Wexler.

Palm Springs Modern is practically a genre in its own right:  Light, spacious steel-and-glass masterpieces  reflect a “golden era” of Mid-century desert architecture that ingeniously adapted industrial technology into now classic civic and residential buildings.

Celebrated  Palm Springs architect Donald Wexler’s  www.psmodcom.com contributions to Coachella Valley architecture are plentiful and exceptional.

While he may be best known for his neighborhood  of steel houses designed for the Alexander Construction Company in the early 1960s (http://www.psmodcom.com/buildings.html), most of Wexler’s works are found among public and commercial projects including one that first greets Palm Springs  air travelers – the Palm Springs International Airport.

Bold and striking with steel integrated  in every part of the house — walls, roof, fascia, trim — its beams, channels and columns were designed to fit together quickly and securely, to be erected in a matter of hours instead of days. Light weight but strong steel frame homes allowed more floor space and floor to ceiling windows to capture the breathtaking desert and mountain landscapes.  Many of Wexler’s homes featured a folded plate or zigzag roof line that today seems almost a signature “W” for his innovative design.

In an interview by Jack Levitan for CA-Modern Magazine (www.eichlernetwork.com ),  Wexler  said, “‘I saw steel as ideal for the desert.  In the desert, steel, concrete and glass are the only materials to build.  They’re inorganic and they don’t deteriorate in the extreme temperature we have.”

Back in the Mid-1950s and 60s, the steel homes were designed to be affordable (when steel was cheap), saving labor and materials, and  low maintenance — a garden hose the only maintenance tool required.

An advertising feature in Home Builder’s Journal, dated August 1962, (www.eichlernetwork.com) touted steel homes as being termite and fire-proof, longer lasting, acoustically superior, and snugly fitting to keep out dirt, insects, and hot or cold air with “consequent lower maintenance costs.”

This sounds hauntingly like today’s quest for energy efficiency, sustainability, low-maintenance and affordability. The famed architect also designed the Palm Springs Police Department and Jail, the Larson Justice Center in Indio,  the Merrill Lynch Building in Palm Springs, the original Palm Springs Spa Hotel’s Bath House (a joint venture with then partner Rick Harrison, architect William Cody and Pierre Koenig), the Desert Water Agency, El Rancho Vista Estates, Royal Hawaiian Estates (Palm Springs’ first residential historic district), Palm Springs Medical Clinic, Union 76 gas station, numerous schools and celebrity homes (www.ranker.com/list/donald-wexler-buildings-and-structures).

Wexler’s celebrity homes included the stunning Dinah Shore and Leff/Florsheim houses, actor Alan and Sue Ladd’s home, one that eventually became Ann and Kirk Douglas’, actress Andrea Leeds and her race-horse and Buick agency owner husband Bob Howard, and a project for Frank Sinatra.

“I felt houses were very personal .  You got very involved with people.  It’s different than doing  a public building or commercial job, ” said Wexler in the CA-Modern Magazine interview.

This past January, the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation (www.pspreservationfoundation.org) celebrated a three day Wexler Weekend, showcasing his work in honor of his 84th birthday.  The weekend kicked off with a showing of the film “Journeyman Architect: The  Life and Work of Donald Wexler”(available on YouTube)  by Design Onscreen (www.designonscreen.org).

The homes tour included 14 Wexler-designed tract home properties in El Rancho Vista Estates, Wexler’s original Palm Springs Home, the Krizman, Douglas and Shore residences.  Visitors toured the 2004 restored Leff/Florsheim house (built 1957) which was taken down to the slab and rebuilt using Wexler’s original blueprint while incorporating modern day conveniences and upgrades.

Some fascinating books on Wexler available through Palm Springs Preservation Foundation include the Wexler Tribute Journal, and Donald Wexler: Architect by Patrick McGrew (www.pspreservationfoundation.org).

More Palm Springs Modern events coming up:  Modernism Week, February 18-27, 2011 (www.modernismweek.com ) and the 10th Alexander Weekend, March 25-27, 2011, celebrating the Alexander tract homes’ architectural importance (www.pspreservationfoundation.org) .

Pamela Bieri

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The West Coast’s Largest Design Event

West Coast’s Largest Design Show Celebrates the Best Modern Projects, Products and People.

If you can’t get enough Mid-Century Modern, do not miss Dwell On Design (www.dwellondesign.com ), the West Coast’s largest design event, returning June 25-27 to the Los Angeles Convention Center.  Only a two-hour drive from Palm Springs.

Curated by the editors of Dwell Magazine, this three-day extravaganza features more than 200 brands on exhibition with design-forward exhibits, competitions, East and West side home tours, and over 80 presentations and panels by design industry  leaders and influencers. Continue reading “The West Coast’s Largest Design Event”

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High-End Home Sales

We don’t have a Case-Shiller Home Price Index for our area, so we make do with what we have.  We can’t simply track prices say above $1 Million, because that is a changing population – a house that sold for $1.5 M a couple of years ago may have sold recently for $950,000, and we would lose that change based on a price limit alone.  As a substitute, I use homes over 4,000 square feet in size.  The vast majority of these homes sell for above $1 Million.  I chose only 4 cities, as they are of similar age and have many similar homes.  The graph shows a growing number of sales.  The average sales price was around $1.8M for the first three months this year, but dropped to around $1.4M in April.  As prices drop, sales increase.    – Wayne Longman

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“Green” Modern Boulder House in Joshua Tree.

Seen in Variety, the LA Times, The Week and Angeleno magazines, this ‘green’ home was conceived by Beverly Hills landscape architect W Garett Carlson. The result is notably significant in uniqueness of concept, materials and execution of a structure at one with its environment. Design elements include rusted steel, concrete, glass, desert sand and indigenous landscaping. A faux boulder facade mimics the famous rock faces in nearby Joshua Tree National Park and hides the home from view. Low energy in-floor thermal warming and cooling is assisted by massively insulated walls, a desert garden on the roof, and the cooler high desert location. Disappearing 10 by 40 foot glass doors completely open the great room to the deck and desert views. Stained concrete floors, CaesarStone counters, upscale stainless appliances, glass tiles, and wood ceiling surround the furnished living spaces. Priced to market, it is well below its 2009 construction cost. Easy driving times to Palm Springs and LA.

Nearby 800,000 acre Joshua Tree National Park has granite monoliths that attract visitors and rock climbers from around the world. The town, an enclave of musicians and artists, continues to grow in popularity, with its own music festival, and an eclectic mix of art galleries, antique and curio stores, cafes and design shops. It is home to the annual Joshua Tree Music Festival. The band U2 stayed and recorded in the town to create their legendary album, ‘The Joshua Tree’.

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Home Prices – Will History Repeat Itself?

We see a lot of news about home prices, both good and bad.  Nobody can predict the future, but we might find clues about it in the past.  The Case-Shiller Home Price Index, captured the California home price collapse in 1990, as shown in the first chart – for high-tier Los Angeles homes.  Then the prices had increased by about a factor of two, just like our last bubble, as shown in the second chart.  The scale in the first chart has been expanded to show they were very similar bubbles, even to their relative size, shape, duration and the false recoveries in 1991 and 2007.  Maybe we can use the 1990’s experience to project our current recovery. 

If so, the blue bars show that it took seven years from the peak to just get to the point where prices began a true recovery.  Our price recovery may not start until 2013, and this is a worse economic situation than in the 1990’s. In between now and 2013 we may see still lower prices.  It is difficult to tell if the small peak we see today is a false recovery or the reaction to an overshoot in the drop, but from the last bubble it is not likely the beginning of recovery.  Again historically, that increase around 2013 will be at the rate of inflation, which in the long term is around 2.5% a year.  If so, this is relative price stability and isn’t bad news – volatility in home prices is the bad news because neither sellers or buyers know what to expect.  – Wayne Longman

Case-Shiller LA High Tier 1990 Bubble
Case-Shiller LA High Tier 1990 Bubble
LA Case-Shiller High Tier 2006 Bubble
LA Case-Shiller High Tier 2006 Bubble
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Video Tour of Trendy El-Paseo in Palm Desert

You can spend a leisurely morning shopping up and down El Paseo, the Deserts own Rodeo Drive.  On El Paseo, you can shop in The Gardens, an upscale shopping and dining treat. You’ll find  Sullivan’s Steak House (great for martinis), Pacifica, Saks Fifth Avenue, Tommy Bahamas, Ralph Lauren, Veneto, Williams & Sonoma, and more. Tiffany’s is across the street from the locally-owned Jeweler, Frascas.  Luis Vuitton is going to be open by end of the year. There are high-end doggie boutiques, pastry shops, Italian markets and specialty stores and more restaurants.

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Historically Significant “Cody” Mid-Century Modern

71388 Country Club Dr in Rancho Mirage

We just listed this historically significant “Cody” Mid-Century Modern in Rancho Mirage. This timeless, captivating Cody mid-century modern has been thoroughly updated without loss of its original style and integrity. The angular walls and roofline; open floor plan with generous amounts of glass, are in his classic style. Although believed to be by William F Cody, this has not been confirmed, but the City has designated this home as historically significant. Wonderful news for golfers the new owners are eligible for nomination for membership in Thunderbird Country Club!

Well located in central Rancho Mirage, on an eye-catching, private (approx.) 1/3 acre desert-landscaped corner lot, it has two solid steel gates that open to the circular driveway with a large parking area and double garage. Stonework (Palm Springs Gold) on the house looks the same as that Cody used on his awarding winning Del Marcos Hotel in Palm Springs.

Visitors are greeted with panoramic view of the pool and patio through eight glass panels. To your right is the dining area with patio access, and the kitchen, which has been completely renovated with Caesarstone Quartz countertops, hardwood maple cabinets and new appliances including a Bosch dishwasher. Find cork flooring in these areas, while the rest of the house boasts laminate wood floors, except for the bathrooms. The kitchen has direct access to the garage and laundry area.

The airy living room has the same glowing stonework surrounding the fireplace as found on the front of the house. South facing, it opens to the pool and patio, as do the first master and the third bedroom with a large closet, which has been opened for use as a den. The living room has double sliders that extend this area to the outdoors.

All the bathrooms have been updated. There is salt and pepper terrazzo for the floor and sunken tub in the first master, and Italian tile in the second master- and third bathrooms. The well-separated second master suite has a walk-in shower and private patio.

A cool-deck patio surrounds the 16 x 32 swimming pool with a 10 deep diving end, a fountain, and overlooks attractive desert landscaping with palms, mature cacti and fruit trees. Shade is provided by overhangs and retractable awnings.

All the windows and sliders have been replaced by Low-E double-paned glass with invisible V-Kool film, and most have Mecho mesh window shades. The original 2 x 6 construction has other updates that include two tank-less water heaters, dual-zone air conditioning, newer pool equipment and crushed stone roof.

It shares the same block as the famed Kenaston Residence, used by many Hollywood stars. An outstanding home at a very reasonable price.

Ralph  Haverkate

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See you in Palm Springs for the coolest confab of

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See you in Palm Springs for the coolest confab of modernism aficionados anywhere!
What’s New at Modernism Week?The 5th Annual Modernism Week will be bigger and better than ever!

We are expanding the number of events from last year – we will have more
than 40 events in 10 fun-filled days, including several events that will be
free to the public.

  • Some of the 2010 Modernism Week’s highlights include:
  • A special tribute to renowned modernist architect Albert Frey
  • An exclusive home tour concluding with a chic reception at
    a celebrity home
  • A vintage fashion show
  • An architecture and design film series
  • A silent auction during the Modernism Show featuring fabulous items
  • An exhibition of Airstream vintage travel trailers
  • A slide show of retro Americana by Charles Phoenix, author
    and kitsch pop-culture humorist

Plus, many of the other audience favorites will be continued such as the annual architecture symposium, lectures, a vintage car show and other activities that will be held in various venues throughout the City of Palm Springs.

The popular architecture tours which often sell-out will be offered on additional days in response to popular demand.

Get your tickets early at modernismweek.com so you won’t be left out of the fun!

Thursday, Feb. 11

Continue reading “See you in Palm Springs for the coolest confab of”

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Effect of Bank-Owned On Non-Bank-Owned Prices

Bank-owned properties (aka REO’s) are known to affect surrounding property prices.  This effect might be seen in past sale prices in the well-defined Palm Springs community of Vista Las Palmas.  This graph shows a decrease in the long term price trend of Non-REO homes at about the time the REO homes were sold.  The effect isn’t that great because REO’s are generally priced low, but close to the market.  There may even be early signs of price strengthening as they fade into the past.  As always though, prices are determined by Buyers.  – Wayne Longman

VLP
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Mid-Century Modern Homes

 

When it comes to mid-century modern architecture, there’s no better place than Palm Springs to view some of the very best homes ever built in this iconic style. Mid-century modern homes in Palm Springs have, in fact, become a significant tourist draw in recent years, attracting just as much attention as the city’s famed resorts, golf courses and spectacular natural setting.

Due to its extensive and well-preserved collection of mid-century modern homes, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the city to its prestigious annual list of “America’s Dozen Distinctive Destinations” in 2006. “Palm Springs,” said the Trust’s president, Richard More, “is not a city of architectural re-creations or approximations of previous eras. Instead, it is a remarkably intact and authentic expression of its architectural heritage.”

Mid-century modern homes in Palm Springs were built by many of the movement’s most renowned names – Richard Neutra, Albert Frey, William F. Cody, John Lautner, Donald Wexler, and the builders/developers George and Robert Alexander, among others. What is arguably the most famous piece of residential real estate in the city, the Neutra-designed Kaufmann Desert House, is a premier example of the streamlined, light and airy designs that are characteristic of mid-century modern architecture.