Sandpiper has the distinction of being the oldest residential development in Palm Desert. Architect William Krisel designed Sandpiper in the 1960’s. The homes are Mid-Century Modern in design. His inspiration came from Frank Lloyd Wright. He offered brightly lit homes that were well designed along with lovely landscaping and quiet private views. The whole property has 18 “pods.” Each has its own lovely swimming pool and there are 6 buildings within the “pod” and each contains two one-level homes. Sandpiper is a convenient walk or stroll to groceries, coffee shops, restaurants and shopping on El Paseo Drive
Sandpiper home prices range from $250,000 to $500,000+.
Old Las Palmas has one of the largest population of homes in Palm Springs that are owned by celebrities. Many of the homes date back to the 1920’s, when it was developed by Alvah Hicks, a builder from New York, and his son Harold. It was a citrus grove before being developed into one of the most prestigious areas of Palm Springs. Back in the 50’s and 60’s Old Las Palmas had many well known celebrities as residents, Liberace, Alan Ladd, Rudy Vallee, Edgar Bergen, and George Hamilton to name a few.
Old Las Palmas is very convenient, and within walking distance to downtown Palm Springs. There are many special advantages to living in Old Las Palmas.
Today, Old Las Palmas is recognized as one of the premier locations in Palm Springs with manicured estates and magnificent views of the San Jacinto mountains.
The-Warner-Estate-Old-Las-Palmas Photo George Gutenberg
VISTA LAS PALMAS
Vista Las Palmas – the Beverly Hills of Palm Springs, used to be the place where many Los Angeles Celebrities and Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin known as the “Rat Pack” would vacation in the 50”s and it became known as the Beverly Hills of Palm Springs.
Nestled between the San Jacinto Mountains and downtown Palm Springs, it made it the perfect place to build “Alexander Homes” done by Architect William Krisel. Vista Las Palmas still features many of them in todays so popular mid-century modern era. Alexander architecture is nowadays well known with their roof styles such as butterfly, low-gabled and folded plate, post & beam construction, clerestory windows, center halls and large lots. “Swiss Misses” became also popular with their double A-frame designed by Charles Dubois and still can be found today in Vista Las Palmas.
Mid-century modern rules the Vista Las Palmas area and many of the older original homes have been restored, remodeled and modernized and increased tremendously in value over the last years.
Home prices in Old Las Palmas and Vista Las Palmas range from $750,000 to $10 Million+.
Alexander 619 N Rose Ave Vista Las Palmas – Photo MLS
DEEPWELL and DEEPWELL RANCH
This is one of those neighborhoods within the city of Palm Springs that is as rich with history as any, but may not be as well-known.
In 1952 Deepwell was officially started as a subdivision. It is a neighborhood filled with rich history, but it is not as well known as some areas of Palm Springs. It has a colorful and long history as a very important part of Palm Springs.
In 1926, Henry Pearson a scientist, bought the area that is known today as the Deepwell Ranch property. He dug his first well and discovered water as deep as 630 feet. This is the deepest well in the Coachella Valley. This is why the property became known as Deepwell Ranch.
Today, a drive through the streets of this neighborhood is great fun, but better yet, rent some bikes and ride these quite streets and enjoy one the of oldest neighborhoods of Palm Springs.
The price of homes in Deepwell and Deepwell Ranch range from $400,000 to $1,200,000+.
Mid-Century modern in Deepwell Palm Springs – Photo George Gutenberg
Drawings for the Johnson-Hebert Residence by Walter S. White (1917-2002) date to early 1958. By that time, White had perfected his ideas for mid-twentieth century modern desert residences. Typically, he first conceived a roof for without shade, life in the desert was unbearable. Underneath he, second, placed space-defining walls, usually not more than two per room and sometimes extending beyond the roof line in order to mark outdoor living spaces. Third, the remaining sides of the rooms White enclosed with large expanses of glass.
White liked to experiment with the roofs. Curved shapes were a favorite of his; the Bates Residence (1954) in Palm Desert features a wave-like roof, a simple concave curve graces the Alexander Residence (1955) in Palm Springs. By the later 1950s, White was fascinated by hyperbolic paraboloid (hypar) shapes. Formed like a saddle, or a Pringle potato chip, these roofs were self-supporting and offered maximum freedom for the interior arrangements. Continue reading “Walter S. White, One of the Great Palm Springs Area Architects”
Dining in Palm Springs is nothing short of exceptional. Whether you’re looking to dine alfresco at the base of the San Jacinto Mountains under a star-studded desert night sky, prefer breakfast at one of our signature cafes, or look forward to happy hour at one of the numerous poolside lounges at hotel properties throughout the city – you’ll find endless ways to tantalize your taste buds.
Here is a list of some of our favorite restaurants: The 6 Coolest Modern Restaurants in Palm Springs. We think you’ll find these restaurants to represent some of the best eating and ambiance in the city. Let’s take a look. Continue reading “The 6 Coolest Modern Restaurants in Palm Springs”
Palm Springs in California has made its name over the years, to attract a lot of people from all over the world to the Palm Springs Modernism Week taking place from February 13th till 23rd, 2014. This yearly event celebrates various cool parties, mid-century modern architecture and designs, special touring of homes and other adventures.
Modernism Week 2014 Retro Martini Party
In addition to the Bus Tours showing architectural significant homes which runs on a daily basis four times during modernism week, the famous Estate of Annenberg at Sunnylands is open to the public for touring and the Convention Center in Palm Springs is holding the popular Modernism Show. Another event which should not be missed is the Exposition of expanded Prefab Showcase and Modern Living which include:
Modern Mambo! Modernism Week After Dark Opening Night, February 13, 2014
Eldorado Country Club is one of the older traditional country clubs with lots of history, owned by private members in the desert and has recently enjoyed the celebration of their 50th anniversary. The location of the club, nestled in the cove of Indian Wells, is superb with it’s spectacular views to the Santa Rosa Mountains and is the ideal place to enjoy all the amenities the club is offering. Members have been enjoying world-class services and great times among themselves.
Way back in the past, the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks passed through the Coachella Valley and the location where Indian Wells got established much later in the future. Around 1870 the rail and state traffic increased and the County of Riverside built a more efficient well. The location of the new well was just about 100 feet away from an old Native American village where no one lived anymore. Beginning of the twentieth century the new well became important to serve thousands of travelers and the new first permanent residents in that area. The very first people living there in the late 1800s established a post office and Indian Wells was becoming a residential area from the late 1910’s on.
At the similar time, the Date industry was growing as well and around the 1920’s, Indian Wells was growing and became a successful community. There was another increase in growth when Eldorado Country Club and Indian Wells Club and its Golf Course was built and people moved into these communities.
By 1957 the first home owners association was founded and a petition was filed with the state by the Citizens to incorporate Indian Wells. In June of 1967, around 285 voters were registered for their very first city election and it passed by major majority to incorporate Indian Wells to become the 400th city within California. This was also the time when the area attracted a lot of celebrities and other famous people such as Desi Arnaz who was a Hollywood entertainer and owned the Indian Wells Hotel. He participated in developing the Indian Wells Country Club and Golf Course and President D. Eisenhower liked the area so much that he chose Indian Wells as his winter destination to be. Much later, the top golf and tennis tournaments attracted many more big names in the USA.
Palmer & Krisel Twin Palms tract home. Photo by Julius Shulman. Getty Museum archives.Alexander Builders in Palm Springs
Palm Springs’ great houses for Kaufman, Frey, Sinatra, Elrod, and others are all handsome expressions of the Modern Era. But as custom designs limited to one site and one incarnation, they lack one significant characteristic of Modernism; repeat-ability.
Embedded in Modernism is the ideal of mass production. The repeatable object, each equal in quality, form and use, is the essence of the twentieth century in contrast with handcrafted artifacts of previous centuries. The impact of the democratization of goods, services, and architecture – from cars to movies to billboards to McDonalds – was tremendous. It is the point where the machine and mass production bring Modernism to the mass audience; it happened in Palm Springs when father and son George and Robert Alexander brought architects Dan Palmer and William Krisel from Los Angeles to the Coachella Valley to design the first extensive tract subdivision in Palm Springs. Strikingly Modern with exposed concrete block, butterfly roofs and open plans. Palmer and Krisel’s designs proved pure Modernism would sell in the marketplace. Continue reading “George and Robert Alexander – Builders of Modernism in Palm Springs”
John Lautner’s Elrod House in Palm Springs, CAArchitect John Lautner in Palm Springs, CA
John Lautner apprenticed with Frank Lloyd Wright in his early career. He had no appreciation of the cool severe geometry of his midcentury minimalist peers. He spent his life as an iconoclast. John Lautner was overlooked and miscast by his critics. Many of his best-known design projects such as the Googie Coffee shop on Sunset Boulevard have been criticized as Atomic Age or Hollywood ketch.
John Lautner was born in 1911 in Marquett Michigan. He worked under the direction of Frank Lloyd Wright from 1933 – 1939. John Lautner began his private practice in 1946 in Los Angeles where he boldly experimented with new industrial processes. He would call this his search to answer total basic human needs, physical as well as emotional in shelter.
John Lautner was fascinated with new shapes and structures, but this had nothing to do with the Space Age of the future, Hollywood glamour, or virtuoso engineering, but came as a determination to humanize the spaces of the built world and create endlessly varied organic places. To John Lautner this was a profound and serious agenda. Continue reading “John Lautner, Architect of the Elrod House”
Modern Architect Albert Frey’s Loewy House in Palm Springs, CAAlbert Frey, Palm Springs Architect
Albert Frey was a believer in modern architecture, a political and social liberation through affordable machine-made designs. His chosen materials were aluminum, glass, and cables. He eventually used boulders and sands of the desert where he lived.
Albert Frey’s career spanned more than 65 years. He believed in the principle that architecture should make the most of the least. Some of his best known works were the East Coast houses that he designed with Lawrence Kocher in the 1930’s and there were many other notable buildings he created in Palm Springs in the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s. Continue reading “Palm Springs Modernist Architect, Albert Frey 1903-1998”
William Krisel, Twin Palms Estates 1957, Photographer Dan ChavkinWilliam Krisel Architect in Palm Springs
Renowned architect, William Krisel, has designed tens of thousands of homes throughout his long and extensive career. He was a visionary, and his designs represented the defined and spatial sensibility of the geometric style of the modernist design.
William Krisel was born in Shanghai, China in 1924 where his father was a career diplomat. He learned Mandarin and the local Shanghai dialect as a young boy. When the Japanese invaded China in 1937, his family moved to Beverly Hills. He enlisted in the Army at the beginning of World War II. Because of his knowledge of Chinese he became one of General Joseph Sidwell’s Chinese interpreters. He returned home after the war, and completed his studies at the University of Southern California, where he received his architectural training. He graduated in 1949 and earned his license in 1950. Continue reading “William Krisel, Mid Century Modern Architect, 1924-2017”
