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