Palevsky Residence, Palm Springs, CA 1968

Welcome to Ralph Haverkate Real Estate Specializing in Mid Century Modern Homes in the California Desert

Craig Ellwood is credited with designing some of the most elegant modern homes built in California in the 1950s and 1960s, but he was not educated as an architect.  Greatly influenced by Mies van der Rohe as well as Charles Eames and Richard Neutra, Ellwood’s designs were characterized by exposed lightweight steel or timber framing, and by floating wall planes separated by a shadow line or “flash gap” detail.  Ellwood homes were spare, modernist and elegant.

On Saturday, April 2, 10 a.m.,  the Palm Springs Museum focuses on Ellwood’s work as the final seasonal lecture on the history of modernism architecture in Palm Springs.  A tour of Ellwood’s most significant Coachella Valley work, the Max Palevsky residence in Palm Springs, follows the lecture.  The late billionaire Palevsky was a computer technology pioneer, venture capitalist and philanthropist. Cost for the event is $25.  www.psmuseum.com.

An influential Los Angeles-based modernist whose career spanned the early 1950s through the mid-1970s, Ellwood was recognized for fusing the formalism of Mies van der Rohe with the more casual  California modernism, adapting the style into an accessible and fashionable vernacular.

The controversial designer fashioned a “persona” and career through his innate talent for good design, ambition and self-promotion.  If ever there was a product of Hollywood, it was architect Craig Ellwood.  Even his name was an invention:  Born Jon Nelson Burke in Clarendon, Texas, in 1922 his family moved to Los Angeles in 1937 where he attended Belmont High School.

After discharge from the Army Air Corps in 1946, Burke returned to Los Angeles and set up a company with his brother Cleve and two friends from the war, the Marzicola brothers, one of whom had a contractor’s license.  The four men named their firm “Craig Ellwood” after a liquor store called Lords and Elwood located in front of their offices.  Burke later legally changed his name to Ellwood and established Craig Ellwood Design in 1951.   www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Craig_Ellwood

Ellwood entered LA’s percolating, post World War II design world as a construction supervisor, draftsman and a cost estimator.  He worked for a construction company in Los Angeles while taking night classes at the University of California Los Angeles Extension Division.  One year before completing his studies, he and his partners established Craig Ellwood Associates in Los Angeles.

Ellwood learned hands-on about building in steel and plastic sheet before he studied architectural theory which gave him an understanding of steel construction and a practical application that eluded many contemporaries from architectural school.  His designs incorporated steel with thoughtful detailing and craftsmanship;  his trademark structural devise incorporated an exposed warren truss that used small member to span big distances.   www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Craig_Ellwood.html.

As a cost estimator for a firm of modern house builders — Lamport, Cofer, Salzman —  Jack Cofer asked Ellwood to design his first house for Milton Lappin in 1948.  Although an awkward  derivative of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Sturges House in Brentwood, the house was published in the Los Angeles Times Home Magazine in 1950, bringing Ellwood recognition, further commissions, and encouraged him to set up, illegally, as Craig Ellwood, Architect.

Soon after he began co-designing homes, Ellwood met John Entenza, founder of the important Case Study House Program which commissioned and promoted modern, economical housing designs.  As editor of Arts & Architecture magazine, Entenza promoted the creative and cost-effective prefabricated, modular housing by publishing these demonstration houses, designed by such luminaries as Charles Eames, Eero Saarien, Richard Neutra, John Lautner, and Edward Killinsworth.  Ellwood eventually designed three Case Study houses all built with exposed steel frames and columns.

His first commission outside of Los Angeles, in 1955 for Charles and Gerry Bobertz in San Diego, Ellwood designed an early example of what later came to be called Ellwood’s “wall houses,” named because of an unrelenting street facade and the defining, perpendicular rhythms and materials of interior and exterior walls.

Behind the stark street facade, however, logically arranged living area unfold, flooded with natural light from windows and skylights.  Eight-foot tall floor to ceiling glass doors open the house to the back yard and a children’s courtyard.  Inside, partition walls, capped with bands of glass that meet the wood ceilings, seem to float.   www.legacy.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/2006/09/03/news_mzlhs03moder.html

The enigmatic exterior wall theme continued when Ellwood designed the Palevsky home on West Cielo Drive in 1968 on what was then described as “the best site in Palm Springs.”  Based on Casablanca desert  style homes that were white-walled compounds with structures set within rectangular walls, the minimalist Palevsky home is integrated into its boulder-strewn site.

www.palmspringsarchitectureblogspot.com/2010/05/max-palevsky-residence.html

Often formal in arrangement, sometimes symmetrical in plan and frequently launching into the landscape, Ellwood houses populated the more exclusive Los Angeles suburb including Beverly Hills, Pacific Palisades, Brentwood and Pasadena.

Although Ellwood’s style translated less well in large commercial projects, the Scientific Data Systems site in El Segundo, (1968) where the administration and manufacturing buildings are pavilions in an open landscape, achieved a successful expression.  Ellwood’s last building, the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, was conceived as a huge truss spanning a canyon, a final, successful realization of a theme often repeated in his earlier buildings.

Although Ellwood’s work is limited in Palm Springs, the California desert is a treasure trove of remarkable, architecturally significant homes and estates by some of the world’s most prominent Mid Century Modern architects.  For a personal tour of significant homes for sale in the area, contact Ralph Haverkate at Ralph@RHaverkate.com.

–Pamela Bieri

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