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Take a Closer Look At Palm Springs Modern Architect Donald A. Wexler.

Palm Springs Modern is practically a genre in its own right:  Light, spacious steel-and-glass masterpieces  reflect a “golden era” of Mid-century desert architecture that ingeniously adapted industrial technology into now classic civic and residential buildings.

Celebrated  Palm Springs architect Donald Wexler’s  www.psmodcom.com contributions to Coachella Valley architecture are plentiful and exceptional.

While he may be best known for his neighborhood  of steel houses designed for the Alexander Construction Company in the early 1960s (http://www.psmodcom.com/buildings.html), most of Wexler’s works are found among public and commercial projects including one that first greets Palm Springs  air travelers – the Palm Springs International Airport.

Top Palm Springs Mid-Century Modern Realtor , Ralph Haverkate, Broker Associate with Tarbell Realtors, (www.ralphhaverkate.com ) represents  a number of Wexler-designed homes and commercial buildings for buyers who appreciate and value these classic modern masterpieces.

Bold and striking with steel integrated  in every part of the house — walls, roof, fascia, trim — its beams, channels and columns were designed to fit together quickly and securely, to be erected in a matter of hours instead of days. Light weight but strong steel frame homes allowed more floor space and floor to ceiling windows to capture the breathtaking desert and mountain landscapes.  Many of Wexler’s homes featured a folded plate or zigzag roof line that today seems almost a signature “W” for his innovative design.

In an interview by Jack Levitan for CA-Modern Magazine(www.eichlernetwork.com ), Wexler  said, “‘I saw steel as ideal for the desert.  In the desert, steel, concrete and glass are the only materials to build.  They’re inorganic and they don’t deteriorate in the extreme temperature we have.”

Back in the Mid-1950s and 60s, the steel homes were designed to be affordable (when steel was cheap), saving labor and materials, and  low maintenance — a garden hose the only maintenance tool required.

An advertising feature in Home Builder’s Journal, dated August 1962, (www.eichlernetwork.com) touted steel homes as being termite and fire-proof, longer lasting, acoustically superior, and snugly fitting to keep out dirt, insects, and hot or cold air with “consequent lower maintenance costs.”

This sounds hauntingly like today’s quest for energy efficiency, sustainability, low-maintenance and affordability.
The famed architect also designed the Palm Springs Police Department and Jail, the Larson Justice Center in Indio,  the Merrill Lynch Building in Palm Springs, the original Palm Springs Spa Hotel’s Bath House (a joint venture with then partner Rick Harrison, architect William Cody and Pierre Koenig), the Desert Water Agency, El Rancho Vista Estates, Royal Hawaiian Estates (Palm Springs’ first residential historic district), Palm Springs Medical Clinic, Union 76 gas station, numerous schools and celebrity homes (www.ranker.com/list/donald-wexler-buildings-and-structures).

Wexler’s celebrity homes included the stunning Dinah Shore and Leff/Florsheim houses, actor Alan and Sue Ladd’s home, one that eventually became Ann and Kirk Douglas’, actress Andrea Leeds and her race-horse and Buick agency owner husband Bob Howard, and a project for Frank Sinatra.

“I felt houses were very personal .  You got very involved with people.  It’s different than doing  a public building or commercial job, ” said Wexler in the CA-Modern Magazine interview.

This past January, the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation (www.pspreservationfoundation.org) celebrated a three day Wexler Weekend, showcasing his work in honor of his 84th birthday.  The weekend kicked off with a showing of the film “Journeyman Architect: The  Life and Work of Donald Wexler”(available on YouTube)  by Design Onscreen (www.designonscreen.org).

The homes tour included 14 Wexler-designed tract home properties in El Rancho Vista Estates, Wexler’s original Palm Springs Home, the Krizman, Douglas and Shore residences.  Visitors toured the 2004 restored Leff/Florsheim house (built 1957) which was taken down to the slab and rebuilt using Wexler’s original blueprint while incorporating modern day conveniences and upgrades.

Some fascinating books on Wexler available through Palm Springs Preservation Foundation include the Wexler Tribute Journal, and Donald Wexler: Architect by Patrick McGrew (www.pspreservationfoundation.org).

More Palm Springs Modern events coming up:  Modernism Week, February 18-27, 2011 (www.modernismweek.com ) and the 10th Alexander Weekend, March 25-27, 2011, celebrating the Alexander tract homes’ architectural importance (www.pspreservationfoundation.org) .

In Palm Springs, be sure to contact http://www.haverkaterealestate.com/mid_century.php for the most comprehensive listings of Mid-Century Modern homes and estates for sale in the California desert area.

– Pamela Bieri

We just listed this architecturaly significant “Green” Modern House in Joshua Tree.

Seen in Variety, the LA Times, The Week and Angeleno magazines, this ‘green’ home was conceived by Beverly Hills landscape architect W Garett Carlson. The result is notably significant in uniqueness of concept, materials and execution of a structure at one with its environment. Design elements include rusted steel, concrete, glass, desert sand and indigenous landscaping. A faux boulder facade mimics the famous rock faces in nearby Joshua Tree National Park and hides the home from view. Low energy in-floor thermal warming and cooling is assisted by massively insulated walls, a desert garden on the roof, and the cooler high desert location. Disappearing 10 by 40 foot glass doors completely open the great room to the deck and desert views. Stained concrete floors, CaesarStone counters, upscale stainless appliances, glass tiles, and wood ceiling surround the furnished living spaces. Priced to market, it is well below its 2009 construction cost. Easy driving times to Palm Springs and LA.

Nearby 800,000 acre Joshua Tree National Park has granite monoliths that attract visitors and rock climbers from around the world. The town, an enclave of musicians and artists, continues to grow in popularity, with its own music festival, and an eclectic mix of art galleries, antique and curio stores, cafes and design shops. It is home to the annual Joshua Tree Music Festival. The band U2 stayed and recorded in the town to create their legendary album, ‘The Joshua Tree’. Visit www.boulder-house.com

When it comes to mid-century modern architecture, there’s no better place than Palm Springs to view some of the very best homes ever built in this iconic style. Mid-century modern homes in Palm Springs have, in fact, become a significant tourist draw in recent years, attracting just as much attention as the city’s famed resorts, golf courses and spectacular natural setting.

Due to its extensive and well-preserved collection of mid-century modern homes, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the city to its prestigious annual list of “America’s Dozen Distinctive Destinations” in 2006. “Palm Springs,” said the Trust’s president, Richard More, “is not a city of architectural re-creations or approximations of previous eras. Instead, it is a remarkably intact and authentic expression of its architectural heritage.”

Mid-century modern homes in Palm Springs were built by many of the movement’s most renowned names – Richard Neutra, Albert Frey, William F. Cody, John Lautner, Donald Wexler, and the builders/developers George and Robert Alexander, among others. What is arguably the most famous piece of residential real estate in the city, the Neutra-designed Kaufmann Desert House, is a premier example of the streamlined, light and airy designs that are characteristic of mid-century modern architecture.

If you’re interested in mid-century modern homes in Palm Springs, it’s best to work with  Palm Springs real estate agents who understand this particular niche of the Palm Springs, California real estate market. Passionate about real estate and mid-century modern architecture both, Ralph Haverkate and Wayne Longman are your guides to architecturally distinctive Palm Springs mid-century homes. Contact them today for more information.