Getaway: Palm Springs Modernism Week a glimpse at iconic mid-century architecture

Edgar Kaufmann Sr., a Pennsylvania department store tycoon, was not only rich. He also was a patron of fine architecture, and two homes he commissioned are today considered among the most important of the were designed by architectural geniuses of the 20th century United States - Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater House in Pennsylvania and Richard Neutra’s Kaufmann desert house in Palm Springs.

Both are signature buildings of the modernist movement that took place between 1940s and 1970s. The style is simple, open, sleek, bold, angular, using steel, wood and stone. Designed to work with the elements of sun and shadow and the surrounding landscape, they typically include glass walls that bring the outside in.

Palm Springs has the largest concentration in the world of mid-century modern buildings, both residential and commercial. And Hollywood celebrities of that era lived in these homes. People come from around the world for the annual Palm Springs Modernism Week, which runs this year through Feb. 21. It’s one of the most popular architecture and design festivals in the world, with home and garden tours, walking and bike tours, parties, vintage fashion, lectures by international experts and even an omnibus tour.

That, however, is not the only chance to feast eyes on mid-century modern architecture and ogle homes of Hollywood legends like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Barry Manilow. The Palm Springs Modern Tour Runs year round.

On one recent tour, the guide was Bob Imber, a warm and engaging man of 60 something. He wore Bermuda shorts, a short-sleeved shirt and a straw fedora hat, and sipped a latte. Imber is a mid-century modern architecture expert, a major force in the modernism movement. He’s active on several preservation boards and committees. He’s written a book and produced a documentary about the subject.

Our tour began in front of the Palm Springs Visitors Center, just outside just outside of downtown. A low, adobe brick building of the modernist era, its broad flat roof rises toward the sky and comes to a point in front, looking something akin to a giant, open beak.

Originally a gas station designed in 1965 by Albert Frey and Robson Chambers, this striking service station made for a dramatic entrance to the city.

“Everyone wanted to get gas here,” Imber says.

In the 1980s, the building was boarded up, painted pink and slated for demolition. Saved at the eleventh hour, the gas station became an art gallery, eventually morphing into today’s visitor center. During the 1990s, the world began to reclaim and preserve these mid-century treasures.

Imber begins with a brief history to put this huge concentration of modern architecture in context.

In the mid-1800s, because of the calming effects of the desert and its mineral waters, the wealthy who suffered from tuberculosis and consumption came to Palm Springs for the cure. Snowbirds came from cold climates with their servants and elegant life styles, bringing teachers for their children. Much of the architecture at the time was Spanish colonial.

Then came Hollywood glitterati during the early to mid 1900s, in part because in that era movie stars with studio contracts couldn’t be more than 100 miles or a day’s ride from Hollywood. Palm Springs was glamour and money.

“It was all very posh,” Imber says.

After WWII, with the growth of Americans’ leisure time, Palm Springs flourished and the city’s architectural design took a turn.

Modernist architects flocked here, inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright and French architect Le Corbusier. While not too many cities at the time welcomed this architectural style, Palm Springs gave designers free rein to create what they wanted.

After that introduction, Imber hustled participants off in his mini-van to peruse what he called a “mecca of mid-century architecture.” Palm Springs grew in increments and is today made up of small neighborhoods, including Las Palmas, Twin Palms, Chino Canyon. He drove first to Little Tuscany, so named because these foothills reminded developer Alvah Hicks of Tuscany, and rolled past the homes of Zsa Zsa Gabor and Jack Benny, as well as Elvis and Priscilla Presley’s honeymoon house (which can be rented), before stopping alongside the most famous house in Palm Springs, the Kaufmann house.

Inman explained, “The small look on the outside belies its large, open interior and its five bedrooms and five bathrooms.” In fact, not a lot of the house is visible from the street. (The Kaufmann house also was owned by Manilow and San Diego Chargers owner Eugene V. Klein.)

Saved from demolition in the 1980s by the rekindled international interest in modernism, the house was painstakingly restored to its original design by owners Brent and Beth Harris, an architectural historian.

Imber rolled on. “So much to see,” he said, bubbling with enthusiasm as he moved to other neighborhoods.

Las Palmas homes are the signature style of builders George and Robert Alexander (father and son). Designed by William Krisel, they are divided into three sections: parking (garage) at one end, a breezeway in the middle (where the entrance is), and a long wall at the other end. Today, owning an “Alexander” is a matter of pride.

“They go for over $1 million,” Imber said. (Residents here have included Kim Novak, Dean Martin and Peter Lawford.)

Wending through other neighborhoods, tour participants get glimpses of homes once owned by Liberace, Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Davis, Ronald Reagan, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra (can be rented) and Leonardo DiCaprio (can be rented for thousands of dollars).

The tour ends with a look at mid-century commercial and government buildings designed by Albert Frey (City Hall), John Porter Clark (Civic Center) and Donald Wexler, who designed the airport, another dramatic point of entry. Twenty-seven-foot-tall windows in the main terminal offer up a view of Mount San Jacinto.

“Everywhere you go,” Imber says, “there’s something in the modern style.” He points to a Bank of America and an old car wash that needs repair.

The city that welcomed and nourished the mid-century modernist pioneers may have contributed to the evolution of architecture. Post-modern architects like Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid are creating radically shaped buildings like the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain or the Guangzhou Opera House in China. Typically, we just have to travel far to see most of them.

EDITOR’S NOTE: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described two mid-century modern homes designed for Edgar Kauffman, Fallingwater in western Pennsylvania and the Kaufmann house in Palm Springs.