Welcome to Ralph Haverkate Real Estate, Your Source for Mid-Century Modern Homes in the Palm Springs  Area

Tennis Club and Sunnylands Architect A. Quincy Jones’ Work Continues To Be Relevant

Tennis Club Pool Part of Palm Springs Art Museum  Symposium November 21; Sunnylands Undergoing Restoration as Art and Education Center

The Palm Springs Art Museum at www.psmuseum.org,  is sponsoring a two-day education event, Backyard Oasis Symposium: The Swimming Pool In Southern California Photography, 1945-1980, Nov. 20 and 21.  A tour of significant Palm Springs pools on the second day of the symposium concludes with a reception at the A. Quincy Jones-designed Tennis Club pool.

The event is sponsored by the museum’s Architecture and Design Council, but is open to the public.  Cost is $125 for non members.  For information, contact Brooke DeVenney at (760) 322-4818 or bdevenney@psmuseum.org.

In 1947, Jones and associate Paul R. Williams collaborated to redesign the Tennis Club, then owned by Palm Springs pioneer Pearl  McCallum McManus.  Initially, the project was to renovate and expand club’s kitchen, swimming pool and tennis courts.  But it grew to include creating a new dining room — the Bougainvillea Room which is literally carved out of the mountain’s rock face –as well as a snack bar, cocktail lounge and terraces for outdoor dining and relaxing.

For Jones and Williams, the challenging hillside project with falling rock, extreme temperatures and a difficult site became a “test laboratory” to find solutions while preserving and  incorporating the impressive desert view.

In a 1947 Southwest Builder and Contractor article, Jones said, “Natural stone found at the site provided the opportunity for a fresh handling of an ancient material as well as a medium for tying the structure into its natural setting.”  Concrete,  durable and plastic enough to mold to the rock, was used extensively as was glass to dissolve the boundaries between interior and exterior.

The Tennis Club became  ”an interesting and successful example of contemporary architectural concepts at their best” for incorporating old structures with new and combining interior function with exterior environment  www.paulrwilliamsproject.org.

Although the Tennis Club building has since been remodeled, the huge oval pool remains a focal point in the oasis-styled landscape. A gallery of Julius Shulman’s iconic photos of the Tennis Club and grounds in the 1940s compared to recent photos may be viewed at www.paulrwilliamsproject.org/gallery/1940s-places-of-liesure/.

The successful Los Angeles-based architect and educator continued to use concrete, glass, stone and steel into his work that bridged the gap between custom-built and developer built homes.

“While in private practice in Los Angeles from 1937, his houses set a standard of excellence that affected all house design of the postwar period, especially the tract house, to which he was one of the few to give architectural consideration,” according to authors of www.aquincyjones.com.

Jones was a pioneer in “greenbelt” planning, raising the level of the tract house in California by surrounding them with gardens integrated into the landscape,” according to Cory Buckner in her book A. Quincy Jones, published by  Phaidon  www.arcspace.com/book/Quincy_Jones/quincy_jones_book.html.

During his 30-year association with building magnate Joseph Eichler, Jones and another partner, Frederick Emmons, designed thousands of homes, reflective of Eichler’s objective to “exceed the quality provided by ordinary builders, but affordable to middle-class American home buyers.” www.eichlernetwork.com/ENStry20.html.

Among Jones’ signatures, coffered ceilings and courtyards that create openness, were prescribed in a 1948 remodel of Town and Country Restaurant in downtown Palm Springs in 1948.  A coffered ceiling lounge overlooked a garden courtyard and while a dramatic wooden trellis that mimicked the ceiling divided the outdoor space.  The coffered ceiling was patterned after one Jones had designed for his own first home in Los Angeles.  See early Julius Shulman photos of the property at www.pspreservationfoundation.org/pdf/center_nomination.

Jones’ larger projects grew out of his solutions for smaller residences, particularly integrating mechanical systems into the roof for better efficiency.  Some examples are the 1959 Biological Sciences Building on the UC Santa Barbara campus and the 1967 Chemistry Building on the UC Riverside campus:   Both roofs are dominated by  a continuous cap that contains mechanical systems.  The interior concrete coffered ceilings carry conduits for wiring, air conditioning and so forth.

Jones’ penchant for multi-level plazas and open court yards was adapted  for the 1972 Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Southern California at which Jones was a professor and dean of architecture from 1951 through 1967 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Quincy_Jones.).

In their commercial as well as residential projects, Jones and Emmons dissolved boundaries between indoor and outdoor spaces through atrium gardens, courtyards, sliding glass doors and floor to ceiling glass walls,  and clerestory windows providing natural  light in working or living spaces  www.eichlernetwork.com/ENStry20.html . Perforated metal panels, exposed masonry block walls, obscure and clear glass, as well as wood and stone were some of the innovative building materials they used in their projects.

Jones’ work in the desert gained even more prestige when in the mid-1960s, Ambassador Walter Annenberg commissioned him  to design Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage, a 25,000 square foot Mid-Century Modern house located in the middle of Annenberg’s 200-acre landscaped estate and private golf course. The project was completed in 1966. www.sunnylands.org/nr_april_2010.php.

For nearly 40 years afterward, the Annenbergs typically spent about five months at Sunnylands where they entertained United State Presidents, British royalty, international political figures, and cultural and entertainment icons.  Walter Annenberg died in 2002 and Lenore in March 2009.

In keeping with the Annenberg bequest, the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands is building an education center on a15-acre site adjacent to the Sunnylands estate and renovating and restoring the original property.

In November 2011, the new Sunnylands will open a 215-acre public attraction with a visitor center, desert garden, historic house, golf course, solar farm and other 21st-century environmental upgrades.  The new Sunnylands will be both an historic house museum as well as a site for retreats and summits. www.sunnylands.org.

“Sunnylands is one of about 150 parks, and residential, commercial and civic developments across the country which have been designated as pilot projects of the Sustainable Sites Initiative or SITES, a new rating system aimed at promoting eco-friendly land developments,” writes K Kaufmann in Desert Magazine, Sept. 2010. www.mydesert.com/archives

Jones’ innovative work continues to be relevant into the next century as appreciation for the modernist movement grows.  Palm Springs area has one of the highest concentrations of Mid-Century Modern homes in the world.  For a tour of desert modern homes currently for sale, contact www.HaverkateRealEstate.com.

– Pamela Bieri

Welcome to Haverkate Real Estate Specializing in Mid Century Modern Homes in the Palm Springs Area

Indulge Your Passion for Desert Modern Homes at 2010 Annual Home Tour November 6

Those with a passion for Desert modern architecture can indulge their senses at the Palm Springs Modern Heritage Fund’s 2010 Annual Home Tour (www.psmodernheritagefund.com/events.html) on Saturday, Nov. 6.   This year’s tour will cover residences in Rancho Mirage and Palm Springs with the rare opportunity to discover magnificent estates behind the gated hillside community of Thunderbird Heights, open for the very first time to tour guests.

The day-long, self driving tour includes eight homes and concludes with a poolside wine and cheese reception.  Cost is $125 and only a limited number of tickets will be available online for purchase at   www.psmodernheritagefund.com. Tour details will be provided to registrants only.

“Home tours like these are a great way to get acquainted with the superb collection of modern homes that we have here in Palm Springs,” said leading Realtor Ralph Haverkate, a specialist in mid-century modern homes in the Palm Springs area.

“Palm Springs contains one of the largest concentrations of mid-century modern homes and buildings that you’ll find anywhere,” said Haverkate.  “The desert landscape here inspired such world-famous architects as Richard J. Neutra (www.neutrafoundation.com), Donald Wexler (www.moderndeserthome.com/index.php/architects.donald), Albert Frey, William F. Cody, Bill Krisel and Stewart E. Williams (www.psmodcom.com) who put their own stamp on mid-century modernist aesthetic.  It is so distinctive, in fact, that we now have a separate term for it  — desert modernism.”

Mid-century modern architecture, from approximately the 1940s through the 1960s, was partly fueled by the economic and housing boom of post World War II.  Desert modernism, a regional approach to International Style architecture, capitalized on the sunny skies and warm climate of the Palm Springs area, incorporating rocks, trees and other landscape features into the design.

A haven for captains of industry, Hollywood celebrities, and a burgeoning population of middle-class American families in the mid-20th century, Palm Springs was unique in place and time in that many talented, world renowned architects found their niche creating visionary, innovative civic buildings, custom and tract homes through both private investors and public commissions.

Characterized by open floor plans, extensive use of glass, steel and concrete, and seamless transitions from indoor to outdoor spaces, Palm Springs mid-century modern homes have been enjoying a revival of interest over the past decade or more.

“These day, buyers who have an eye for design are very much in the market for modern homes in Palm Springs,” said Haverkate  “With these homes now recognized for the historic and architectural treasures that they are, it’s no surprise that they are now among the most sought-after properties in the Greater Palm Springs area’s real estate market.”

The Heritage Fund was established as a 501 ( c ) 4 organization specifically to support local political candidates who share preservationists’ views about Palm Springs’ historic modern architectural heritage.  While tickets to the home tour are not tax deductible, funds go toward political endeavors to protect this heritage.

More information on other events and modern homes in general can be found at ModernHomesBlog.com, leading Palm Springs Realtor Ralph Haverkate’s blog.

– Pamela Bieri

Welcome to Ralph Haverkate’s Real Estate Blog, Specializing in Mid-Century Modern Homes

Just Listed:  Architectural Gem in South Palm Desert by California Modern Inventor, Industrial Designer and Architect Walter White www.73271Buckboard.com

During the 1950s and 60s when many architects and developers first came to the desert, the area’s unique terrain, climate and rugged beauty provided exciting challenges as well as new vision for a generation of modernist thinkers.  Some gained fame and fortune in the desert; their many contributions are clearly visible in tract and custom developments, public and community projects throughout the area.

Others, such as California Modernist Walter S. White, created only a few precious gems that are still quietly tucked away in quality neighborhoods, just beginning to receive the recognition they deserve.

One of White’s unique homes, built in 1958 in the Silver Spur residential enclave at 73221 Buckboard Trail, overlooking Palm Desert, is now on the market for $535,500.00

Architectural block, glass walls that create a compelling indoor/outdoor relationship, interior floating walls and clerestory windows are a Walter White signature.  The home’s authentic mosaic bath tiles and pebble stone entry have been lovingly restored.  The newer pebble tech salt-water pool and spa are surrounded by spacious lawns, open patio areas and custom decorative block screen.

The two bedroom, two bath, 1,500 square foot home is situated on a generous 15,600 square foot lot with plenty of space to add on behind the double garage.

An architect, inventor and industrial designer, White was an innovator specializing in premium houses, passive solar energy and steel structures for more than 60 years in southern California and Colorado Springs, Colorado (http://findarticles.com).  His patented inventions include the hyperbolic paraboloid roof structure (1966), also known as the saddle roof (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddle_roof) — it’s shaped like a Pringle potato chip –and the heat exchanger window, patented in 1975.

White’s inventions and architectural work are documented in the Architecture and Design Collection, University Art Museum at UC Santa Barbara(www.arthistory.ucsb.edu), with some 60 pieces documenting this beautiful south Palm Desert home now on the market.

During his lifetime, White’s work appeared in Arts and Architecture Magazine, the National Geographic, Better Homes and Gardens, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Energy News Digest and more.

In his early years, he worked in the Los Angeles offices of Harwell Hamilton Harris and Rudolph Schindler, later with Leopold Fisher and briefly for desert iconoclast Albert Frey.  He was invited by Frank Lloyd Wright to intern at Taliesin West.

One home in Colorado Springs, known as the Ventanas House (ventanas is Spanish for windows), (www.huffingtonpost.com2010/06/16/ventanas-house), is attributed White as a protégé of Wright’s.  The house displays two of White’s innovations: pivotal windows capable of heat exchange, and the hyperbolic paraboloid roof system.

The outside perimeter of this house is all glass. Every spring and fall the windows are pivoted around their vertical axis to position the solar glass panes either toward the inside or outside, to heat or cool the house as necessary.  Ventanas House is also constructed of steel beams anchored in concrete.  The roof is carried by the steel beams so that there are no supporting interior walls on the upper level.

From the 1960s,White worked in Colorado developing various inventions and patents, passive solar designs and self-sufficient homes, returning to California in the 1980s. Known for his independence and lack of pretension, White refused to sit for his State of California architectural license examination until the early 1990s, then in his mid-seventies.  Up until that time, the State of California required he write “Not an Architect” on his plans and designs, one reason, perhaps, that White’s designs have gone  under-recognized in California.

Premium, self-sufficient, solar heated homes and buildings, steel construction, the environment and ecology were a driving passion for White all of his profession life, according to his obituary in the Colorado Springs Newspaper, April, 2002 (http://findarticles.com).  He was 85 when he passed away in East Lansing, Michigan, survived by his second wife Pamela Whitney Haines, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Several other White designed homes are in the South Palm Desert area and listed in the City of Palm Desert’s Art and Architecture City Guide Map (www.palm-desert.org/arts-culture).  Download for a self guided tour.  Or contact Ralph Haverkate Real Estate for information and a personal tour of the Walter White home and other Mid Century modern homes for sale in Palm Desert.

– Pamela Bieri