This month, history and modernity converge in Palm Springs as the First Church of Christ, Scientist, designed by architects Albert Frey and Robson Chambers, reopens as the Dezart Playhouse. The metamorphosis from sacred space to cultural hub has captured the imagination of the theater and architecture communities, which will see the first of two renovation phases unveiled Nov. 13–15, when the company opens with West Side Story in Concert and a pre-show gala reception.
Few residences capture the essence of desert modernism like Albert Frey’s Frey House II. Built in 1964, the mountainside retreat was carefully sited after Frey spent 12 months charting the sun with a 10-foot pole to determine the ideal orientation. The result is a...
Golden light, crisp evenings, and a long weekend of midcentury magic. This month marks the spirited return of Modernism Week’s intimate fall edition. The festival, which marked 20 years in February, introduced its October gathering in 2013, distilling the signature...
Canyon View Estates Boundaries: East San Jose Road to the north, East Avenida Grande to the south, South Calle Palo Fierro to the east, South Sierra Madre to the west. — Harry Styles and Florence Pugh’s characters in the 2022 psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling...
2025 Architectural Preservation Awards Honors Five Projects and People in Palm Springs
Preservation is an act of defiance — against indifference, demolition permits, and the slow creep of time. The Palm Springs Modern Committee’s annual Architectural Preservation Awards celebrate that spirit in all its forms: painstaking restorations, daring revivals,...
Book Highlights History of Canyon Country Club Colony in Palm Springs
Unlike most Palm Springs real estate ventures of the time, Canyon Country Club was built by developers who came from other parts of the country. This led to architects and designers from outside the Coachella Valley being chosen to design significant portions of the...
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Racquetclub Center This strip of midcentury modern decadence invites discovery on your way into or out of town. Some of the shops (and their owners) are local legends, having been in the business for decades. Because you always have room for one more MCM specimen:...
Oh, to be 20 again. It’s a glorious age, full of audacious vim and vigor (and a lot less face cream). This year, Modernism Week enters its rip-roaring 20s with nary a fine line in sight and with even more thrill-seeking vitality than last year, which drew a stylish...
kaufmann desert house Richard Neutra, 1947 With deep overhangs and strategic louvre openings designed to frame mountains and sky, the Kaufmann Desert House is a case study in light and shadow. Richard Neutra designed it for Pittsburgh department store magnate Edgar...
1922 Designed in 1922 by Austrian architect Rudolph M. Schindler for globetrotting eugenicist and pioneering date farmer Paul Popenoe and his bride, Betty, the erstwhile Popenoe Cabin in what is now the city of Coachella is widely considered the region’s first...
Shag’s Palm Springs Art Puts Classic Cars in the Spotlight
It’s a sunny day on a picture-perfect street in Palm Springs’ Vista Las Palmas neighborhood. Classic cars line the driveways of midcentury modern homes: an Avanti outside an A-frame, a 1966 Pontiac GTO convertible at a house with a butterfly roof, a Porsche 356...
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. What sets Desert Modernism apart from other midcentury architectural styles? It’s as though the architects were creating site-specific laboratories in the desert. The use of steel and glass and seamless...
The International Harvester Metro that serves as the food pickup point at Luchador Brewing Company in Cathedral City has a little-known connection to a Palm Springs architectural wonder — the Raymond Loewy House in Little Tuscany Estates. Raymond Loewy and Associates,...
Having embedded myself as a photographer of midcentury modern architecture and design in Palm Springs for more than 15 years, I have met a fraternity of highly passionate homeowners. Their stewardship has contributed to the preservation of countless residences, many...
Whether you’re checking out the scene for the first time or a seasoned aficionado seeking fresh angles, Modernism Week’s two annual events (in October and February) offer architecture fans an immersive master class in Palm Springs’ midcentury design culture. While the...
Palm Springs Modern Committee Awards Architect Susan Secoy Jensen for Preservation Efforts
A day after receiving her bachelor’s degree in architecture from Kent State University in Ohio, Susan Secoy Jensen embarked on a cross-country road trip to Southern California, where, as a child on vacation, she first discovered midcentury modern design. Armed with a...
Brad Dunning Honored for Curating Albert Frey Architecture Retrospective
In 1990, Brad Dunning came across a book review of Albert Frey, Architect, by Joseph Rosa. He studied the pictures and thought, I’ve got to find out more about this. Dunning lived in Los Angeles then. He wrote a letter to Frey in Palm Springs, and two days later, the...
Howard Hughes’ Historic Palm Springs Home Wins Prestigious Preservation Award
“This would be so sexy for you!” So said a friend of Jeffrey Steenberg’s in 2016, passing along the listing for a three-bedroom, three-bath residence in Araby Cove, just below the Arthur Elrod pleasure palace that surmounts Southridge. From the narrow street, the...
Palm Springs Bank of America Restoration Preserves Iconic Modern Design
Positioned poetically at a fork in the road, the historically designated 1959 Bank of America branch in Palm Springs shimmers in aqua mosaic tile and soars with a sculptural roof that evokes the prow of a ship. Its quirky look is not unfounded: The architect, the late...
New Book Explores the History of Midcentury Brand Architectural Pottery
I first became familiar with Architectural Pottery during a home tour of the architecturally significant midcentury modern home of Chris Menrad in Palm Springs around 2009. The home’s interior alone was something to behold, as it was a highly curated collection of...
