What is Desert Modernism?

Desert Modernism is an interpretation of the Modernist or International Style, tailored to suit the Palm Springs indoor/outdoor lifestyle.  People flocked to Palm Springs for the stunning fall/winter weather and wanted to spend their time outdoors. Desert Modernism is recognizable by its minimalist, clean lines and the seamless blur of indoor and outdoor space. Rooflines are often flat or butterfly-wing v-shaped (dubbed “butterfly” roofs). Floor plans were open, and there were many windows and sliding glass doors that brought the outside in. Beautiful breeze blocks temper the desert heat and attached carports rather than detached garages fulfilled the need to shelter the automobile.

Notable Architects from the Mid-Twentieth Century Who Practiced in Palm Springs

Richard Neutra (1892 – 1970) – Austrian-born, raised, and trained, Neutra immigrated to the U.S. in 1923, where he worked with Frank Lloyd Wright before branching out on his own.  Neutra designed homes in Palm Springs, including the Miller Residence (1937) and his masterpiece, The Kaufmann Residence (1946).

John Lautner (1911 – 1994) – After training under Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West, Lautner moved to LA and focused on residential architecture. His distinctive application of the principles of organic architecture culminated in the Palm Springs homes for Arthur Elrod and Bob Hope. These homes are in a gated Southridge community and are not accessible to the public, although the Hope residence can be seen on the side of the mountain from East Palm Canyon Drive.

Donald Wexler (1926 – 2015) – Donald Wexler worked for Richard Neutra for a while in LA, then relocated to Palm Springs, where he was employed by William Cody. Wexler partnered with Richard Harrison for a time. Together, they designed many school buildings and the Steel Development Homes for Alexander Construction Company. Other notable designs include the Dinah Shore Residence, the main terminal building at the Palm Springs International Airport, and Royal Hawaiian Estates Condominiums.

William “Bill” Krisel (1924 – 2017)—Krisel studied architecture at the University of Southern California and also became a licensed landscape architect. It is estimated that 30,000 residences in Southern California can be attributed to Krisel. As a personal friend of Bob Alexander, he is credited as the architect of record for many Alexander Construction Company developments.

E. Stewart Williams (1909 – 2005) – Williams studied at Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania. Some of his notable Palm Springs designs include the Palm Springs Art Museum, Coachella Savings and Loan (now Chase Bank), Santa Fe Federal Savings & Loan (now the Art Museum’s architecture and design center), Palm Springs Aerial Tramway station, and Frank Sinatra residence.

William Cody (1916 – 1978): Cody studied architecture at the University of Southern California before moving to Palm Springs in 1946. The following year, he designed the Del Marcos Hotel and went on to work on several clubhouses and Country Club developments throughout the Coachella Valley. Cody’s celebrated designs include the Abernathy House, Palm Springs Public Library at Sunrise Park, St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, and the L’Horizon Hotel.

Albert Frey (1903 – 1998) – Frey established a style of modernist architecture in Palm Springs known as “Desert Modernism.” He worked in Paris for Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (commonly known as Le Corbusier) before moving to the U.S. in 1928. He then worked with New York architect A. Lawrence Kocher in New York City for some years as the managing editor of Architectural Record magazine. A small commission for an office and apartment for Kocher’s brother, Dr. J.J. Kocker, brought Frey to Palm Springs. In California, he worked with architect John Porter Clark. Buildings of note include Frey House I and II and the Tramway Gas Station (now the Palm Springs Visitor Center): the Raymond Loewy Residence, and the Palm Springs City Hall.

John Porter Clark (1905 – 1991) – Clark studied architecture at Cornell and apprenticed with Garrett Van Pelt in Pasadena. He relocated to Palm Springs to find more work and is credited as one of the pioneers of “Desert Modernism.” In 1935, Clark met Albert Frey and collaborated on many projects, including the Palm Springs City Hall, the Welwood Murray Memorial Library, Palm Springs Woman’s Club, and St Paul’s in the Desert church.

George and Robert Alexander (developer) – The Alexander Construction Company was founded by George Alexander and his father George. They specialized in affordable tract residential developments in Southern California post World War II. The prolific developers helped make second home ownership in Palm Springs affordable to the growing middle class. Their homes are known as the “Alexanders,” though most of the developments’ architecture is credited to William Krisel and Dan Palmer.  They also partnered with architects Charles Dubois and Donald Wexler. Alexander developments in Palm Springs include Twin Palms, Vista Las Palmas, Racquet Club Road Estates, Desert Lanai, and Sunmore Estates, among others.

Hugh Kaptur (1931 – ) – Kaptur studied architectural engineering at the Lawrence Institute of Technology in Detroit, Michigan. He relocated to Palm Springs in 1956 and apprenticed for Wexler and Harrison. Kaptur is recognized for his design of the Steve McQueen Residence, the William Holden Residence (both gated and private), several home designs for the Ranch Construction Company (now Desert Park Estates Neighborhood), the clubhouse at the Mesquite Golf Course, Tahquitz Plaza office buildings, the Triangle Inn, Fire Station #3 (with Robert Ricciardi) and Fire Station #4, the Musicland Hotel (renovation) among others.

Jack Meiselman (developer)—Jack (1899 – 1994) Meiselman developed many single-family homes in and around Palm Springs in the 1950s and 60s. Their homes, designed by a young architectural designer named John “Jack” Moyer, featured many of the same design features and construction methods seen in the post-and-beam homes by the Alexander Development Company. The Meiselmans built approximately 350 homes in Palm Springs.

A. Quincy Jones (1913 – 1979)—Jones worked with a slew of modernist architects, including Douglas Honnold, George Vernon Russell, Burton A. Schutt, and Paul Williams. He later partnered with Paul Williams on several Palm Springs projects, including the Palm Springs Tennis Club (1947), the Town & Country Restaurant (1948), and Country Club Estates Condominiums.

Palm Springs Self-Guided Architecture Tour

This self-guided tour is a mere introduction to the amazing collection of extraordinary buildings in Palm Springs designed during the mid-twentieth century. Many of the architects of these buildings were not well-known.  They were young architects, often at the beginning of their careers, who were exposed to many prolific and noteworthy modernist architects.  They found eager clients in Palm Springs ready to throw off the tired revivalist and traditional styles and embrace fresh new ideas of the Modern Movement.

Begin at the Palm Springs Visitor Center – 2901 N. Palm Canyon Drive

Albert Frey designed the Tramway Gas Station, now the Palm Springs Visitor Center.

This remarkable Modernist structure was constructed between 1963 and 1965 as a gas station. The roof is constructed of corrugated galvanized steel, spanning over 95 feet, and supported by six steel pipe columns. The dramatic structure was created to draw the attention of motorists entering Palm Springs.  In the 1990’s the building was threatened with demolition by the property owners. Fortunately cooler heads prevailed and the building was granted Class 1 historic landmark status. Shortly after it became the Palm Springs Visitor Center.

There are several architecture books available at the Visitor Center, as well as various gifts and information. For those who want to see even more Palm Springs mid-century architecture than this tour provides, buy a map produced by the Palm Springs Modern Committee.

There is also a printed Hollywood Star Home self-guided tour map for purchase, which shows where many of the Hollywood stars lived, which helped make Palm Springs world famous.

Tramway Shell Station – (William Cody, architect, constructed 1964)

2796 North Palm Canyon Drive

On the east side of Palm Canyon, just south of San Rafael, is another dramatic automobile service station designed by architect William Cody.  The station is comprised of an ultra-thin cast-in-place concrete roof.  The service bays and attendants’ offices are a simple cubic volume that appears to have been carefully slid under the thin roof plane.  Lighting in the canopy was deftly integrated into the roof plane in recessed troffers that had most recently been retrofitted with LED lighting.  The buildings’ minimalist design and thin roof profile are a trademark of Cody’s work in the desert.

Head down San Rafael Drive across the street from the Visitor Center. Turn right on Indian Canyon Drive and left on East Simms Road.

Racquet Club Estates 

A short distance from the Palm Springs Visitor Center off Indian Canyon Drive is Racquet Club Road Estates, developed by the Alexander Construction Company. Racquet Club Estates boasts the Steel Development homes by Donald Wexler on Sunnyview, Simms, and Molina Roads, dozens of “Alexanders” designed by Palmer & Krisel, and a collection of mid-century homes developed by Jack Meiselman, designed by Jack Moyer  .

Alexander Construction Company Steel Houses

290 Simms Road
300 and 330 East Molino Road
3100, 3125, 3133 and 3165 North Sunnyview Drive

Designed in 1960 by Donald Wexler and Richard Harrison, these pre-fabricated, all-steel homes were to fill an entire neighborhood. However, after seven homes were built, rising steel prices made further homes in this style cost-prohibitive. All seven homes are now Class One historic sites and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Head South on Sunnyview toward Francis Drive

Palmer & Krisel designed homes

Chino Canyon/ Little Tuscany Estates

Go to the end of the road and turn left on North Via Monte Vista 

Vista Las Palmas and Old Las Palmas

Downtown Palm Springs

The Mesa/Canyon Corridor/Twin Palms Estates

Deepwell Estates

Movie Colony

Twin Palms – Sinatra Residence(E. Stewart Williams – 1947) – 1148 Alejo Road

Other Noteworthy Properties

Frey House II – (Albert Frey, 1963, expanded 1967) 686 Palisades Drive

Albert Frey’s second home in Palm Springs is an essay in minimalist steel and glass integrated with the rocky mountainous site on which it is located.  Frey left large natural rock outcroppings on the site and integrated them to subdivide the main living space from the adjacent bedroom.  The house is owned by the Palm Springs Art Museum, which occasionally conducts limited site tours.

Other noteworthy mid-century modern sites that the Palm Springs City Council has granted Class 1 Landmark status include:

City National Bank (Now Bank of America)  588 South Palm Canyon Drive (inspired by the Chapel at Ronchamp France by Le Corbusier).

The Town & Country Center (Architects Paul R. Williams and A. Quincy Jones in collaboration with Donald Wexler, 1948 – 1955) is a fascinating amalgamation of buildings and styles. It reflects the emerging popularity after World War II for modernist architecture and a break with traditional, revivalist architectural styles of the 20s and 30s. 175 North Palm Canyon Drive.

Kocher-Samson Building (Architect Albert Frey 1936, one of the earliest Modernist structures built in Palm Springs. )

J.W. Robinsons’ Department Store (Architects Luckman and Pereira, 1958) is a classic mid-century department store with a “bow-tie” motif on the roof fascia, aggregate “zig-zag” masonry veneer walls, and unique tapered and ribbed steel columns.

By Randy Garner and Ken Lyon

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