Welcome to Team Haverkate Real Estate Specializing in Mid Century Modern Desert Homes

During Modernism Week 2011, Park Imperial South on South Araby Drive in Palm Springs celebrated its 50th birthday and invited the public to tour its 31-unit condominium community.  Created in 1960 by one of the nation’s most noted residential architects, Barry Berkus, AIA, Park Imperial South’s remarkable Mid Century Modern design still thrives and remains virtually untouched.

www.parkimperialsouthps.com www.modernismweek.com

Berkus guided the tour and presented his take on modernism’s mark on architecture in Palm Springs and across America.  A video archive of the design tour and Berkus’ discussion is posted here at Team Haverkate Real Estate.

“Being acknowledged by those who live within the architect’s dream is the highest honor one can aspire to , and the fact that residents here have kept my dream in condition is a remarkable compliment,” Berkus said.

www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/barry-berkus-aia-to-address-modernism-week

Founder and president of B3 Architects and Berkus Design Studio in Santa Barbara, Berkus has remained on the forefront of residential design in this country and abroad for over 40 years.  His name is synonymous with innovation, and his firm has won hundreds of design and planning awards from regional, national and international competitions.

www.barryberkus.com www.b3architects.com

Berkus began college with a focus on economics, but he always loved to draw.  After attending Santa Barbara City College, he transferred to USC’s  architecture program, saying “It was exciting and I knew I’d found my place.”

He pursued housing, an industry that during the 1950′s and 60s most architects thought was “beneath them” and many were convinced they couldn’t make a living at it.

“When we started, housing was looked down upon,” he recalled. “I lead a design panel at the National Association of Home Builders, but couldn’t do one at the American Institute of Architecture.”

“I had a goal to change the way housing looked,” he said.  “I wanted to give it a sculpted feeling, an innovative component to nurture people.  I strived to use volume, light and shapes in my homes.”

Berkus’ ability to produce house plans quickly also turned the odds in his favor.

“Housing as a product has to move on and off the boards quickly because it didn’t pay very well,” he said.

www.noozhawk.com/article/120309_barry_berkus

Berkus began as an intern for noted Palm Springs architect William Cody before opening his own firm and designed Park Imperial South at the age of 25.

During his talk at the tour, Berkus recalled sitting at construction sites for John Lautner projects, inspiring him to develop his  own unique design vision.  Berkus said Park Imperial South was an experiment in design and construction.  The distinctive folded-plate roofs were constructed in Oakland before being transported to Palm Springs where they were lifted into place by crane.

www.itssosunny.com/2011/02/20/palm-springs-modernism-week-home-tour-feature

“I wanted to design a space for people who could not afford an architect,” said Berkus of the project.

As his company went public, Berkus began considering modular housing.  He researched data at UCLA on every modular created up to that point and concluded that mobile homes were the only successful factory-built house that made its manufacturer money and lasted for any length of time.

“Let’s change the way housing is built,” he said when he approached national builders with the first “smart house” and various homes on wheels.

“I’ve always gone the far edge of the planet in my thinking,” Berkus admits.  “I’ve always been interested in investigating.  I’m in my 70s now and I’ve failed a bunch, in part because security never interested me.”

“Architects, by nature, are optimists,” he said.  “I’ve grown by taking risks and assumed it would work out.  Even recently, with single family homes in Santa Barbara, I’ve had to build them and then people showed up to buy them.  I knew it was right.”

www.noozhawk.com/article/120309_barry_berkus

It seems Berkus was right about his long lasting design at Park Imperial South as well.

One objective of the Modernism Week tour was to demonstrate the complex’s design longevity both interior and exterior as well as the versatile floor plan.

Nine homes in varying stages of rehabilitation and remodel were open for guests to view.  Several units had been completely redone with new kitchens and appliances, upgraded bathrooms, redesigned patios and new flooring, while other units retained original design elements such as range hoods, cabinetry and intercom entertainment systems.

For the past 10 years, Park Imperial South homeowners association has been restoring the complex with new landscaping, entrance signage, lighting and wood paneling to each home’s entrance.  The Palm Springs Preservation Foundation has granted funds to continue restoration projects, and the sold-out tour during Modernism Week benefited the development’s renovation projects.

www.itssosunny.com/2011/02/20/palm-springs-modernism-week-home-tour-feature

For Berkus, thinking outside the grid comes naturally and so does the task of reinvention.

“Everything has to fall apart so you can come up for air,” he said.  “Residential architecture is about romance, learning, fulfillment of a journey.  It should never be below you to do housing.”

www.residentialarchitect.com

Palm Springs has a proud heritage of innovative Mid Century Modern architecture in public buildings as well as custom, tract and condominium homes.  For a personal tour of Mid Century Modern properties currently for sale, contact Ralph Haverkate at ralph@RalphHaverkate.com.

– Pamela Bieri

When Ralph W. Haverkate, a real estate broker specializing in Mid Century Modern homes, came across an abandoned but classic Mid-Century Modern home in south Palm Desert that was facing a short sale, he immediately called his wife Bettina Waldraff to come take a look.

“He wanted me to see the inside of the house with the true mid-century modern beam ceiling and big back yard with pool which our two Entlebucher Swiss Mountain dogs would love,” she said. “We both saw right away the potential this property could have.”

The couple called young up-and-coming architect Lance O’Donnell of O2 Architecture in Palm Springs, a protégé architect working with Donald Wexler.  They previewed several homes with O’Donnell to get his perspective and input. O’Donnell agreed that south Palm Desert house was a great location, within walking distance to El Paseo, and had “great bones and potential.” O’Donnell suggested leaving the existing ceiling and adding on a master suite to increase the house from approximately 1,900 square feet to 2,500.

Their offer finally accepted, the Haverkates sealed the deal in November, 2009.  O’Donnell began his design that  maintained the house’s original architecture but meticulously reinvented its interior. Rarely is a house able to combine modern and vintage accents into a living work of art.

“Mid-April of last year, our project was underway,” said Bettina. “Moving along, the whole house was gutted down to the studs and just the old concrete floors and wood beam ceilings were left.”

The remodel, executed by Barton Construction Palm Springs and Team Haverkate, kept the original wood post and beam construction and ceiling.  New air conditioning ducts and copper plumbing were installed under the original slab. The new roof and walls were fully insulated and the concrete floors throughout were restored and polished.

The new master suite bedroom/bathroom addition was designed with its roof tilted in the opposite direction of the existing roof line of the house to give it the mid-century modern “Butterfly Roof” look.

The kitchen was designed to be a focal point in the living space.  It features CAESARSTONE kitchen counter tops, white high gloss Wenge wood veneer cabinets and top-of-the-line MIELE dishwasher, oven, steamer, warming drawer, and built in espresso machine, with an energy efficient induction glass cook top and stainless steel hood. A SUBZERO refrigerator and 150 bottle SUBZERO wine fridge complete the kitchen appliances.

“A long 10 feet dining table was a must since I like to cook and entertain friends and clients of Ralph’s,” said Bettina. “And a handmade crystal chandelier rounds up the dining area giving it a glamorous feel.”

A huge 24-foot glass wall completely disappears, joining the living areas to the patio and pool.

“Strong support was needed to hold the big glass slider,” said Bettina. “To have that open space, living inside/outside feeling was one of the main items on our wish list.”

The swimming pool was completely re-done in its original style, shape and size with all new pool equipment, plumbing and concrete decking, adding an outdoor fire pit and sitting area. Albert Frey-style block walls provide privacy and accent the desert landscaping. A state-of-the-art see-through glass Napoleon fireplace replaces an outdated fireplace.

Bathrooms feature PORCELANOSA glass tiles and Wenge veneered cabinets under modern WET sinks and the master bath has a white custom CAESARSTONE dual vanity.  All faucets, shower heads and toilets are the latest design of KOHLER.

“Mark Davis from the Modern Home store in Palm Springs supplied us with tile for all the bath rooms and kitchen back splash as well as the countertops in the kitchen and the double sink free-floating unit in the master bath,” said Bettina.

The Haverkates chose double pane energy-efficient aluminum framed windows and sliders throughout the house. Three separate air and heating systems were placed underground (rather than on the roof) and can be operated separately to keep the energy costs down. Most lighting is the latest energy efficient LED light fixtures.

“Finding the right furniture was fairly easy since both Ralph and I have very similar taste,” said Bettina. “We were able to picture what pieces we needed where and what colors.  We found some of the furniture in Los Angeles, and also some great pieces locally in Palm Springs.”

The property is conveniently located in a very quiet South Palm Desert area but still within walking distance to the high-end shopping/restaurant EL PASEO area.

“We moved in November 2010 and just love the area and the house,” said Bettina. “Our two dogs, Heidi and Willi, could not be happier; they enjoy the big lawn area created for them to play and run after their balls.”

Welcome to Team Haverkate Real Estate Specializing in Mid-Century Modern Homes For Sale in the California Desert.

Alexander Weekend tickets are now on sale!

The Alexander Weekend,  March 25-27, celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation’s inaugural event in 2001 that first recognized the Alexander Construction Company’s significant contributions to modernist residential architecture in Palm Springs.

In conjunction with its first Great Alexander Weekend, the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation published a tribute journal entitled When Mod Went Mass: A Celebration of Alexander Homes. The weekend and tribute journal launched a growing appreciation of the seminal role the Alexander Construction Company played in the creation of Palm Springs’ “built environment.”  It also brought to the forefront the architectural importance of those Alexander-built tract homes designed by architects William Krisel and Donald Wexler.

This year, a new commemorative tribute journal devoted to the Alexanders is entitled The Alexander: A Desert Legacy and written by architect/author Jim Harlan.

The Alexander Company, founded by George Alexander and his son Robert, was a Palm Springs based residential development company that built more than 2,200 homes in the desert between 1947 and 1965.  The “Alexanders,” as these homes are now  known, doubled Palm Springs residential population, giving the city a whole new shape and direction.  www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Construction_Company.

Key to the Alexanders’ success was the talented young architect Krisel, partner in the Los Angeles firm Palmer and Krisel, Inc. and a close friend of Bob Alexander.   www.psmodcom.com/Architects%20pages/PalmerKrisel.

The Alexanders’ foray into desert tract homes began with Twin Palms Estates, named for two palm trees included in the front landscaping of each home.  Hallmarks were a single story, open floor plan with an indoor-outdoor feeling enhanced by skylights, sliding glass doors, and an interior atrium.

Three quarter walls divided the main room to provide abundant light, eliminating the need for full framed walls, molding and trim, so created a clean contemporary look.  Exposed tongue-and-groove planks and beamed ceilings also enhanced the room’s soaring architectural lines.  The same floor plan repeated within the housing development saved construction and materials costs.

Krisel was involved with every facet of design, planning, engineering and construction.  From site and landscape choices to interior colors and trim, each house was oriented and embellished differently, making the Alexanders look like a collection of individualized custom homes.

Other Palmer & Krisel projects included the Ocotillo Lodge, Vista Las Palmas, Racquet Club Estates, Sandpiper condominiums in Palm Desert, and the famous “House of Tomorrow” also known as the “Elvis Presley Honeymoon Hideaway.”  Robert Alexander and his wife lived in this house for a time, featured in Look Magazine in September, 1962.

From as early as the 1920s and through the 1970s, an impressive roster of talented architects have been captivated by Palm Springs:  R.M. Schindler, Richard Neutra, and Lloyd Wright (Frank Lloyd Wright’s son); young Swiss architect Albert Frey whose work profoundly influenced desert architecture; and regional modernists William F. Cody, E. Stewart Williams, Wexler and Krisel.

Each made their mark with “striking custom homes, impressive commercial complexes, hotels and motels, commanding civic and educational campuses … and created an architectural treasury of great consequence and innovation in and around Palm Springs,” writes Robert Imber  in his story on The Alexander Homes.  www.eichlernetwork.com/desert_chron1.html.

Imber noted that Palm Springs remained a sleepy seasonal village until postwar American affluence and growing families began to emerge with a demand for mass market housing.  Coupled with the fact that Palm Springs already was a discrete playground for Hollywood’s elite, a bevy of builders and architects grew to fill the increasing demand for year round residential and well as seasonal vacation homes.

The Alexander Weekend includes a free Kick Off event with Jim Harlan’s lively, entertaining overview of the Alexander Construction Company’s post-war housing stock in Palm Springs on Friday, March 25, 6 – 7:30 p.m. at the Canyon Conference Center.  Panelists include architects Krisel and Wexler along with author Alan Hess and architect/author Patrick McGrew discussing the lasting impact the Alexanders made on Palm Springs post-war building boom.

Join Honorary Chair Jill Alexander Kitnick at the Opening Night Cocktail Party on Friday, 8 to 10 p.m. and be among the first to preview the new tribute journal.   The party will be held in a Krisel-designed “long butterfly” home in Twin Palms, an example of the Alexanders’ early work that has never been open to the public.  A specialty cocktail has been created to celebrate the event.

The Alexanders had five distinctive rooflines:  The classic butterfly;  a flat roof with side or front entry; narrow gabled roof with front or side entry; wide gable roof; and side gabled roof with clerestory windows.

Modernist Home Tour I on Saturday, March 26, includes two of the Alexander Construction Company’s most important modernist neighborhoods, Twin Palms and Vista Las Palmas, showcasing fine examples of mid-century residential architecture including “Butterfly,” “Swiss Miss” and other Alexander rooflines.  www.eichlernetwork.com/desert_chron1.html.

The tour also includes the “House of Tomorrow,” considered one of the most innovative modernist residences built at that time.  Tour times are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and includes a one-hour lunch break.   www.elvishoneymoon.com.

The second day of the Modernist Home Tour on Sunday, March 27, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. uncovers more of the Alexander Construction Company’s legacy with tours of the Krisel-designed Racquet Club Road Estates and the Sunmor neighborhood, along with the Wexler-designed Green Fairway Estates neighborhood.  www.racquetclubestates.com

Harlan will be on hand to sign his new book at Just Fabulous bookstore, 515 N. Palm Canyon Drive, during a complimentary book signing from 3 to 5 p.m.

The opening night cocktail party is $50 per person; Modernist Home Tour I is $85 and Modernist Home Tour II is $45.  The AW multi-pass option at $165 offers the best value and includes the exclusive Friday night cocktail party and two full days of house tours, a $15 savings to all events.

For tickets and reservations, log onto www.pspreservationfoundation.org

“We are proud to be partners in celebrating the annual Modernism Week and the Alexander Weekend, ” said Ralph Haverkate of Team Haverkate Real Estate.  “Both events further the cause of historic preservation in the Palm Springs area, so that for years to come we will have something tangible to celebrate, to own and pass down to future generations.”

Citywide, the collection of Alexanders range from 1,225 square feet in the Racquet Club Road Estates at the north end to over 2,500 square feet in the Vista Las Palmas, Golden Vista,  Mountain View, and Green Fairway Estates nearer to the center of town.  These were originally priced from $16,950 to $50,000.  Today, the Alexanders are highly sought after and refurbished sells from $400,000 to well over one million dollars.

For a personal tour of Wexler and Krisel designed Alexander homes and estates for sale in the Palm Springs area, contact Ralph@RHaverkate.com.

– Pamela Bieri

Welcome to Ralph Haverkate’s Modern Homes Blog

Retro Martini Party, February 25, 2011 at the William F. Cody-Designed Jorgensen-Mavis House

Benefits PS Preservation Foundation

Join event sponsor Haverkate Real Estate at the 2011 Retro Martini Party on Friday, February 25 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Jorgensen-Mavis House, designed by Desert Modernist Architect William F. Cody, in Thunderbird Country Club.

Tickets are $125 per person and benefit the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation.  Pre-paid tickets are available only at www.pspreservationfoundation.org. Attendees will receive a complimentary William F. Cody Tribute Journal.

Dress in your swankiest “rat pack” threads!

One of Palm Springs’ noted Mid Century Modern architects, William Cody left his indelible mark throughout the desert and Southern California with dozens of public buildings, country clubs and private homes.

Among Cody’s first desert designs were the 1947 Del Marcos Hotel followed by numerous Palm Springs projects, notably the conversion of the Thunderbird Dude Ranch to the Thunderbird Country Club and later Tamarisk and El Dorado country clubs, the Racquet Club and the Tennis Club.

While many of these clubhouses have been demolished and rebuilt or heavily remodeled, Cody’s work is still very much alive in custom residences throughout the desert such as the Jorgensen-Mavis residence (1954) that is featured at the Retro Martini event, and landmark buildings, St. Theresa’s Catholic Church and Convent (1966-688), the Palm Springs Library (1973), The Tennis Club Condominiums, and the dramatic entrance of the Spa Hotel (1962) among others.  www.moderndeserthome.com/index.php/architects/william-cody

His Mid-Century Modern classic, The Horizon Hotel (also called L’Horizon), built in 1952 and located at 1050 East Palm Canyon Drive, was rebuilt from the ground up in 2004, restoring the original architecture and updating its amenities. www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2008_1st/Feb08_HorizonPS.html

The hotel was acquired by Dave Scharf, a real estate developer from Portland, Oregon, who commissioned architect and former Cody associate Frank Urrutia to complete the two-year renovation.  Scharf obtained the original blueprints and numerous vintage photographs of the hotel by famed architectural photographer Julius Shulman, to preserve much of the hotel’s original character.

The results highlight Cody’s design throughout.  Most notably are its low slung ceilings and absence of any 90-degree angles.  The 22-bungalow style rooms feature 102 and 78 degree angles.  The Horizon Hotel spotlights Cody’s influence on the rich architectural history in Palm Springs.

Cody originally built the hotel for Hollywood mogul Jack Wrather and his wife actress Bonita Granville, best known for her portrayal as Nancy Drew in the Nancy Drew movies series from 1938-39.

Wrather, an oil millionaire from Texas, became part of the Hollywood scene by producing “Lassie” and “The Lone Ranger” founding KCET-TV and building the Disneyland Hotel.  The Horizon Hotel became the couple’s getaway for themselves and their many Hollywood friends including Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable and Rosalind Russell.  www.thehorizonhotel.com.

Born in 1916 in Dayton, Ohio, and raised in Los Angeles, Cody began working in architecture in the 1930s with Cliff May while attending the University of Southern California’s School of Architecture.  He received his degree in 1942.

In 1945, Cody was retained to alter the Desert Inn, his first Palm Springs commission.  He completed the Del Marcos hotel in 1947, a work that was recognized by the Southern California chapter of the AIA.

During Post World War II, Cody’s work flourished in Palm Springs and he moved his practice and family here in 1950. In 1960, he began nearly a decade of work altering and expanding the Palm Springs Spa Hotel.  His specialization in country clubs let to commissions in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco as well as Phoenix, Scottsdale and Lake Havasu, Arizona, and even projects in Mexico and Cuba.

www.lib.calpoly.edu/specialcollections

Cody had quite a reputation for carousing, earning the moniker “Wild  Bill,” according to fellow architect Don Wexler with whom Cody worked in the 1950s. Yet his work was exceptionally focused on the details of his designs, pushing the boundaries of his materials.

Author Adele Cygelman wrote, “Joints and door frames seemingly disappeared into walls,  He merged living rooms into terraces and gardens. Roofs jutted out twelve feet to shield the walls of glass.  Pattern and texture came from the tile floors, carved wood panels, and concrete-block screens with geometric motifs, all of which were meticulously designed by Cody to match each other precisely at the seams and angles where the planes met.”

Architectural critic Arthur Hess said of Cody’s work that “a distinct character can be seen in all of them.  It is a restless energy that brings a liveliness to his plans, elevations and details.  The radical thinness of Cody roofs or the daring reach of a cantilever are clearly the result of a wrestling match between the architect and the materials and the laws of physics; that energy and striving remains in the building.”

Hess notes that “the fact that Cody could take an established vocabulary and style and reinterpret it so vividly ranks him among the best of mid-century California designers.”

www.activerain.com/blogsview/1174597/willian-f-cody-faia-famed-mid-century-architect

In a recently re-published story and interview with Cody from the August 1964 issue of Palm Springs Life, Cody describes his philosophy of architecture:

“Architecture must guide the future of our culture, a three-dimensional sculptured concept conditioned by proportion, the secret of great building.  Father to the arts, it embraces man’s finest endeavors and, since the inception of time, has inspired progress and served to formulate a better way of life.”

www.palmspringsrealestatenews.com/palm-springs-noted-architect-william-cody

Palm Springs and the California desert are a treasure trove of Mid-Century Modern homes, many of which were designed by William Cody.   For a tour of Cody’s and other architectural masterpieces available for sale, contact Ralph@ RHaverkate. com.

– Pamela Bieri

We can’t really know, but there may be a reason that if they go lower, they won’t stay there. The long-term inflation rate of U.S. housing is around 2.5%. Let’s look at the Case-Shiller Home Price Index for some high-tier markets. The graph below has the Index for three western U.S. cities, with an added line that shows the normal long term rate of housing price inflation of about 2.5%.

This long term “normal” growth rate shows that home prices should be about 30% higher now than in 2000. Prices in Vegas and Phoenix have dropped below this long term value, and there should be upward pressure based on this historical trend. Higher than average inflation is expected and will further increase this upward pressure.

L.A. may be a bit different, as it may have been still feeling the effects of the 1990’s California bubble and recession when the Index base of year 2000 was established. If so, this might have raised the base home values in 2000, made the peak lower and therefore today’s index lower, closer to Phoenix and L.A. If this is not the case, L.A. may still be above the normal inflation value, and vulnerable to further declines.

In the Palm Springs area, homes that have devalued from about 35 to 50% may have hit bottom, at least in the long view of things. They may stay there until economic and employment conditions improve.

To see how they might recover from that point see ”Waiting for Price Recovery”
Wayne Longman

Welcome to Team Haverkate Real Estate, your Premier Source for Mid-Century Modern Homes in the Palm Springs Area

What is Mid-Century Modern?

Mid-Century modern is an architectural, interior and product design form that generally describes mid-20th century development in modern design, architecture and urban development from roughly 1933 to the late 1960s (www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-century-modern).

The term, coined by Cara Greenberg for her book, Mid-Century Modern: Furniture of the 1950s, published in 1983 by Random House, is now recognized by scholars and museums worldwide as a significant design movement.

What is Modernism?

Before World War II, architecture and furniture styles emphasized hand craftsmanship — ornate detail and traditional materials like dark, heavy woods.  However, decades earlier, the visual arts, painting and sculpture had already been influenced  by a movement called “modernism” with a visual emphasis on clean lines, contrast, elevation and innovative style and form.

French Impressionists, such as Matisse, Picasso, and symbolists in literature, Ezra Pound, T.S. Elliott, were among the early modernist artists and writers.

Modernism “questions the axioms of the previous age,” and is a cultural movement of changes in Western society beginning in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  It reflects  a trend of thought that human beings can create, improve and reshape the environment through practical experimentation, scientific knowledge and technology.   Along with new artistic and philosophical trends, social, political and economic were forces at work – industrialization (en.Wikipedia.org//wiki/Modernism).

Post War Life Style

After WWII, modernism began to influence lifestyle-related arts forms such as architecture, product and furniture design.  Mid-century modern furniture styles began to be lightweight, affordable, clean-lined,  visually simple, and made new materials such as steel and acrylic. (http://blog.antiques.com/2010/08/24/what-is-mid-century-modern)

Suburban living and economic prosperity began to expand during this time, and with that, the demand for mass produced, affordable housing and furniture that offered both beauty and function.   Americans seemed to move beyond painful memories of the war and focus on innovation and the future, according to  What is Mid-Century Modern? in Antiques.com, The Magazine.

In her book, Greenberg writes, ” The early 1950s was not the first time modern furniture had been offered to the American public, but it was the first time they lined up around the block to buy it.  But it they did with cold card cash of postwar prosperity, driven by a sudden voracious hunger for curves that were swoopy, parabolic, amoeboid; lines that were long and low; ornament that was absent; materials that, until recently, had been found only in aircraft factories.”

War-inspired advances in the aircraft industry made new manufacturing techniques and materials possible for this new lifestyle.

Modernist Architecture

Modernist architecture emphasizes function. (architecture.about.com/od/20thcenturytrends).  Consequently, any ornamentation is derived from the structure and theme of the building.

Although few “modern” buildings were built before WWII, postwar Modernist architecture became the pre-eminent style for schools, institutional and commercial buildings.  The most commonly used materials are glass for the facade, steel for exterior support, and concrete for the floors and interior support.  Floor plans are functional and logical.  The skyscraper became an icon of modern urban development, and symbol of success and wealth.

Modernism Visionaries and Evolution

Some see the evolution of Modern architecture as a social matter, developed as a result of social and political revolutions:  The Bauhaus movement in Germany that called for a “rational” social housing for the workers, is a primary example.

Bauhaus architects rejected “bourgeois” details such as cornices, eaves and decorative details.  They wanted to use principles of Classical architecture in their most pure form, without ornamentation of any kind.  Bauhaus buildings have flat roofs, smooth facades and cubic shapes.  The Bauhaus school disbanded when the Nazis rose to power; Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and other Bauhaus leaders migrated to the United States. (arcitecture.about.com/od/20thcenturytrends)

In her Mid-Century Modern book, Greenberg writes, “The Bauhaus visionaries Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Breuen and Swiss-born Charles Edouard Jeanneret (Le Corbusier) had outline in the 1920s and ’30s with astonishing prescience, the forms Fifties furniture was to follow.”

Some see Modern architecture as primarily driven by technological and engineering developments: The availability of new building materials such as concrete, iron, steel and glass drove the invention of new building techniques as part of the Industrial Revolution.

Others regard Modernism as a matter of taste, a reaction against the ornate and excessive Victorian Era and Edwardian Art Nouveau.

Architects in the International and Bauhaus style preferred simple, unornamented buildings.  While Bauhaus architecture had been concerned with social aspects of design, America’s International Style became a symbol of Capitalism.  The International Style is the favored architecture for office buildings and found in upscale custom homes.

The name came from the book, The International Style, by historian and critic Henry-Russell Hitchcock and architect Philip Johnson, published in 1932 in conjunction with an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (architecture.about.com/od/20thcenturytrends).

Mid-Century Architecture was further developed by Frank Lloyd Wright’s principles of organic architecture combined with elements of the International and Bauhaus movements, although less formal.

Desert Modernism

By the mid-20th Century, many variations of the International Style had evolved.  In southern California and the American southwest, architects adapted the International Style to the warm climate and arid terrain, creating an elegant yet informal style known as California or Desert Modernism (architecture.about.com/od/20thcenturytrends).

Clean lines, affordable materials, and economical engineering targeted the needs of the average American family.  Desert Modern residences tend to be on a more human scale, accessible, using organic shapes, and playful, democratic designs.

The style emphasizes open floor-plans, ample windows to bring the outdoors in, and the post-and-beam design that eliminates bulky support walls in favor of walls made of glass, which seems to dissolve the inorganic “box” into the background.

Palm Springs arguably has the largest concentration of Mid-Century Modern architecture in the world (www.visitpalmsprings.com./page/desert-modernism/8185).

By chance and opportunity, pioneer builders and architects such as Joseph Eichler (www.eichlernetwork.com), Richard Neutra (www.neutra.org) , Albert Frey (www.psmodcom.com), the Alexanders (www.pspreservationfoundation.org), Don Wexler (www.moderndeserthome.com), John Lautner (www.johnlautner.org),  A. Quincy Jones (www.aquincyjones.com), William Cody (www.psmodcom.com), and many others bought Mid-Century Modern architecture to public buildings, custom homes and subdivisions in the Palm Springs area.

Among the notables are the Palm Springs International Airport, Larson Justice Center, and Merrill Lynch Building in Palm Springs by Donald Wexler (see blog: “A Closer Look at Palm Springs Modern Architect Donald Wexler”);  the Aerial Tramway Station, Tramway Valley Gas Station and Palm Springs City Hall by Albert Frey (www.moderndeserthome);  Ambassador Walter  Annenberg’s “Sunnylands” Estate by A. Quincy Jones (en.wikipedia/wiki/A_Quincy_Jones); the famed Elrod House by John Lautner (see our blog  ”Architect John Lautner’s Elrod House Now On the Market” ), and the iconic Kaufmann House by Richard Neutra (see our blog “The Landmark Kaufmann House Still Makes News”).

For a tour of Palm Springs Desert Modern homes currently for sale in the Palm Springs area, contact Ralph Haverkate at www.HaverkateRealEstate.com.

– 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

In the Palm Springs area, the only homes that are selling are at 30-50% discounts.  Many would-be home buyers seem to be holding back in fear (or hope) that prices will fall some more.  If you believe in Buy Low you should be wary of trying to buy at the bottom – that is very hard to do.  It’s better to get most of the benefit of the low, than to miss it altogether.  Median prices were actually lower last year than now.

It does look as if prices may fall again, but I may be wrong .  In the opinion of some, we saw prices rise last year due to various government stimulus programs, and they could rise again if private investment increases.  We have seen unemployment increase and that will increase the number of foreclosures.  The impact of new foreclosures should be minimal because we have seen the banks meter them onto the market about as fast as they are selling, which has kept prices stable.

Could a meaningful drop of 20% or more still happen?  If a Mid-Century Modern home was $500,000 at the peak, it is possibly worth around $300,000 now (a 40% drop).  I don’t believe it can go down to $200,000 (down 60%).  Could it go down 15% from $300,000 to $255,000?  It is possible, but a slight market improvement could keep the price steady or slightly increase it, as happened over the last year.  Meanwhile the buyer is still looking and we are getting closer to the time when prices will definitely increase.

Some sellers are waiting too.  If they need to sell, there isn’t much point in waiting for the return to high prices.  That won’t happen for many years.  They are likely better off selling now to start a new financial or housing base rather than dealing with an uncertain future.

For both Buyers and Sellers, there is a financial risk of doing nothing, and you may miss the chance of finding that perfect Kreisel Alexander or Walter S. White.

- Wayne Longman

Plans are underway for the 10th Anniversary of the “Great Alexander Weekend” in Palm Springs, March 26-27, 2011. The Palm Springs Preservation Foundation (www.pspreservationfoundation.org ) is planning a full weekend of home tours, seminars, cocktail receptions and special tributes to one of Palm Springs’ most influential and innovative home builders.

The Great Alexander Weekends and PSPF’s tribute book, When Mod Went Mass, have garnered significant awareness of the Alexander-built tract homes by architect William Krisel, and helped leverage even more importance to the genre of Mid-Century Modern homes, commercial and public buildings which are prevalent throughout Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley.

From as early as the 1920s and through the 1970s, an impressive roster of talented architects have been captivated by Palm Springs:  R.M. Schindler, Richard Neutra, and Lloyd Wright (Frank Lloyd Wright’s son); young Swiss architect Albert Frey whose work profoundly influenced desert architecture; and regional modernists William F. Cody, Donald Wexler, E. Stewart Williams and Krisel.

Each made their mark with “striking custom homes, impressive commercial complexes, hotels and motels, commanding civic and educational campuses … and created an architectural treasury of great consequence and innovation in and around Palm Springs,” writes Robert Imber  in his story on The Alexander Homes (www.eichlernetwork.com/desert_chron1.html. )

Imber noted that Palm Springs remained a sleepy seasonal village until postwar American affluence and growing families began to emerge with a demand for mass market housing.  Coupled with the fact that Palm Springs already was a discrete playground for Hollywood’s elite, a bevy of builders and architects grew to fill the increasing demand for year round residential and well as seasonal vacation homes.

The Alexander Company, founded by George Alexander and his son Robert, was a Palm Springs based residential development company that built more than 2,200 homes in the desert between 1947 and 1965 (www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Construction_Company ).  The “Alexanders,” as these homes are now  known, doubled Palm Springs residential population, giving the city a whole new shape and direction.

Key to the Alexanders’ success was the talented young architect Krisel, partner in the Los Angeles firm Palmer and Krisel, Inc. (www.psmodcom.com/Architects%20Pages/PalmerKrisel ).  A close friend of Bob Alexander, Krisel came to Palm Springs at his request.

The Alexanders’ foray into desert tract homes began with Twin Palms Estates, named for two palm trees included in the front landscaping of each home.  Hallmarks were a single story, open floor plan with an indoor-outdoor feeling enhanced by skylights, sliding glass doors, and an interior atrium.

Actual Homes For Sale in Twin Palms

Three quarter walls divided the main room to provide abundant light, eliminating the need for full framed walls, molding and trim, so created a clean contemporary look.  Exposed tongue-and-groove planks and beamed ceilings also enhanced the room’s soaring architectural lines.  The same floor plan repeated within the housing development saved construction and materials costs.

Krisel was involved with every facet of design, planning, engineering and construction.  From site and landscape choices to interior colors and trim, each house was oriented and embellished differently , making the Alexanders look like a collection of individualized custom homes.

Other Palmer & Krisel projects included the Ocotillo Lodge, Las Palmas Estates (Vista Las Palmas) Racquet Club Estates, Sandpiper condominiums in Palm Desert, and the famous House of Tomorrow otherwise known as the “Honeymoon Hideaway” of Elvis and Priscilla Presley.  Robert Alexander and his wife lived in this house for a time, and were featured here in Look Magazine in September, 1962.

Actual Homes For Sale in Vista Las Palmas

Another well-known Alexander house in Las Palmas is the Lawford/Kennedy house, originally built for Peter Lawford, married to JFK’s sister Patricia Kennedy.  This house, in close proximity to Marilyn Monroe’s, is supposedly where JFK and Monroe rendezvoused.

The affordable Racquet Club Road Estates (www.racquetclubestates.com )  were built by the Alexander Construction Company between 1959 and 1962.  The 1,225 square foot homes were designed as weekend and vacation getaways on a concrete slab with single pane glass and without insulation.  Here, too, the post and beam construction allowed the soaring roofline, open floor plan, and indoor/outdoor relationship to generous quarter-acre lots.

“Space age” utilitarian kitchens were separated from the entry way with a five-foot high wall which held an oven, gas cook top and refrigerator.  Wall mounted cabinets with sliding pegboard doors above a  sink in a long Formica-topped counter balanced on iron hairpin legs.  A double deck island separated the kitchen from dining with a “floating” upper cabinet.

At the end of a hallway, large master bedrooms featured sliding glass doors to the outside.  Private master bathrooms had sunken shower/tubs and outside doors for swimmers’ use.  Off the hall were two bedrooms and another bathroom.  In each bedroom an entire wall of closets was enclosed by sliding doors, leaving open space above to the ceiling.

The Alexanders had five distinctive rooflines:  The classic butterfly;  a flat roof with side or front entry; narrow gabled roof with front or side entry; wide gable roof; and side gabled roof with clerestory windows.

While each house has the same floor plan, some bedrooms line up along the street front, while others are aligned along the side from front to back. The ceiling heights and use of clerestories and window arrangements change their appearance.

When new, the homes cost $19,000 plus additional options.  A fireplace could be added in three of the five roofline designs and an optional swimming pool complemented the circular concrete backyard pads for only $950. The total cost of house and pool was below $20,000, quite affordable for middle income families and celebrities.

Citywide, the collection of Alexanders range from 1,225 square feet in the Racquet Club Road Estates at the north end to over 2,500 square feet in the Vista Las Palmas, Golden Vista,  Mountain View, and Green Fairway Estates nearer to the center of town.  These were originally priced from $16,950 to $50,000.  Today, the Alexanders are highly sought after and refurbished sells from $400,000 to well over one million dollars.

While the majority of Alexander homes were designed by Palmer and Krisel, those with an A-frame facade, known  as “Swiss Misses” (www.jetsetmodern.com/issue5/swissmiss.htm )  in the Green Fairway Estates (www.desertmodernism.com/greenfairway.html ) tract in south Palm Springs, were designed by architect Donald Wexler, who designed the Palm Springs International Airport.

Alexander built Swiss Miss homes are an A-frame construction with lava rock facades, Aztec motifs and Asian or South Pacific styles that were influenced by experiences in the Pacific Theater brought home by World War II soldiers.  There were nine master floor plans that were repeated two or three times in the tract.

Only a limited number of Alexander homes were constructed at the Green Fairway Estates prior to 1965: tragically that year the Alexanders were killed in a private plane crash in the Little Chocolate Mountains while on a flight to Burbank.

The Great Alexander Weekend has fueled a revival of these treasures; don’t miss the 10th anniversary!

For a tour of Alexander homes currently for sale in the Palm Springs area, contact Ralph Haverkate at  www.haverkaterealestate.com

–  Pamela Bieri

Architect John Lautner’s Elrod House Now On the Market

Architect John Lautner’s iconic Arthur Elrod House (www.johnlautner.org) is back on the market with a  price tag of more than $13 million.

The late architect, renowned for his organic structures, composed  this amazing home carved into the rugged Southridge foothills overlooking  Palm Springs in 1968.  The house has been featured extensively in lifestyle, architecture and design magazine articles (www.palmspringslife.com/Palm-Springs-Life/February-2009/Daring-Design) and is best known  as the James Bond bachelor pad in Diamonds are Forever. It is one of three buildings in Palm Springs by Lautner:  Bob and Dolores Hope’s “space ship” domed home also on Southridge (1979) and the Desert Hot Springs Motel (1947).

The Elrod  house contains many Lautner hallmarks:  a difficult site, harsh environment, modest entrance that conceals soaring space, and rooms that conversely move between indoors and out.  The 8,901-square foot house possesses a daring Mid-Century design and breathtaking vistas.

Designed to shield dwellers from the intense desert sun, its enormous domed concrete roof rests on curved walls providing an interior pavilion with a wraparound view of the mountains, city and desert below.  Wedge-like sections in the roof lift to accommodate skylights and provide indirect light.  Retractable glass walls open the room to the elements.

Natural boulders are exposed in the living room while the tip of an indoor-outdoor swimming pool emanates from the interior to nearly fill a massive curved deck. The pool provides a cooling, ever changing reflection of sky and nearly “disappears” over the side of the deck.  Lautner, in fact, is credited for creating Los Angeles’ first “vanishing edge” or infinity pool, built for a private residence in the Silver Lake area in 1957 (www.poolandpatio.about.com).

The main floor includes a kitchen hidden from the circular living room by a long, curved wall. On the same level, the master bedroom features a bar and refrigerator tucked behind walls of exotic wood with carefully matched grains.  A sunken master bath tub is exposed to the outside with only a glass wall in between boulders and row of bamboo shoots, adding privacy to the already remote site.

A guest house and servants quarters, added after the main house was built, are reached via a spiral staircase from the pool deck.

The house is being sold along with two other properties in the Southridge development, owned and cared for by a real estate investor who admired the house a year before buying it in 2003.

The current owner bought the house from supermarket magnet Ron Burkle, who had poured millions into the house during the years he owned it, according to a Palm Springs Life feature by Allison Engle (February, 2009).

“I give Burkle full marks,” said the owner in the 2009 PSL article.  “He did all the thankless stuff you never see, basically renovating all the mechanical systems and furnishing it in a manner that’s true to the space.”

“You’ll never find this site again. You’ll never get the approvals again.  And you had true simpatico between the client (Eldrod), architect (Lautner) and contractor — something impossible count on and critical to the best results,” he said.

The owner’s two other properties create an unusual portfolio of architecturally significant homes:  the former Steve McQueen house designed by Hugh Kaptur and the “Boat House” designed by Michael P. Johnson for race-car driver James Jeffords (www.la.curbed.com/tags/elrod-house).

In keeping with their intent as unique dwelling places, the properties have been made available to friends, family, business associates and special occasions over the years.  Most recently they are for rent only to members of the Southridge Club; membership is $100,000 annually (www.la.curbed.com/tags/elrod-house).

Palm Springs is a virtual treasure trove of Mid-Century Modern architecture with one of the largest and best preserved examples of elegant homes and landmark buildings constructed during the 1940s through 1960s (www.architecture.about.com).  While Lautner’s style is considered Desert Modernism and Googie (his iconic Googie coffee shop on LA’s Sunset Boulevard), other architectural styles from that era in Palm Springs include Art Moderne, Spanish Eclectic, and Tiki.

An apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright, Lautner’s subsequent fascination with new shapes and structures may have caused him to be overlooked or miscast as an Atomic Age futurist or celebrating Hollywood excess during his lifetime.  After he died in 1994, his original designs began to receive serious attention and recognition.

In a foreword to a book that accompanied a retrospective exhibition of Lautner’s work at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles in July, 2008, Museum Director Ann Philbin wrote that Lautner’s vision “came from his determination to humanize the spaces of the built world and create an endlessly varied organic poetry.  This was a profoundly serious agenda.”

The Hammer Museum’s John Lautner retrospective was at the Palm Springs Desert Museum this past spring.

You can see all the properties for sale in Southridge here

– Pamela Bieri