PS Modernism Week: The Finale (for us)

For the last day of our participation in Modernism Week, we joined in a walking tour called Show Biz Legends Hideaway.

The Mesa is a beautiful secluded neighborhood with a fascinating assortment of eclectic architecture. It boasts one of Palm Springs’ most stunning architectural anomalies, the Santorini House (below).

Ranging from romantic Spanish Colonial Revival to dramatic Contemporary Modern, these hillside hideaways were home to Hollywood’s elite. “Without Hollywood, it can be argued, there would be no Palm Springs as we know it today,” states Howard Johns in his book Palm Springs Confidential: Playground of the Stars.

It began with the silent screen era and Hollywood’s first male heartthrob Rudolph Valentino. Since that time, movie stars have flocked to the desert and made Palm Springs one of their favorite getaways.

Our first stop was at Johnny and Ginger Mercer's home. The 2,500-square-foot, three-bedroom, three-bathroom ranch-style house, built for Mercer in the 1920s, includes the studio where, according to lore, the composer wrote Moon River. The property also has original jacaranda and olive trees and a pool with diving board.

There is an M embedded in the front walkway, letting one know that yes, it was the Mercer home.

The Ship of the Desert, completed in 1937, is a Streamline Moderne house built for the Davidson family, owners of an East Coast department store chain.

Mrs. Davidson was an early supporter of the construction of Desert Fashion Plaza in downtown Palm Springs. Fashion designer Trina Turk and her husband, photographer Jonathan Skow, purchased the house in 1998. What a cool abode.

We met Earl Neel. This was from his 1988 City Council election campaign, "Earl Neel, a 61-year resident and nurseryman by trade, he understands local people, values, and processes. Lifelong Commitment to Palm Springs. Since 1935, the owner and operator of Neel’s Nursery, the largest retail nursery in the Coachella. Member of numerous city committees and task forces since 1935, including the Architectural Advisory Committee since 1978 and the Planning Commission • Served on the Board of Directors for the Palm Springs Desert Museum and was a founding member of the Board of Directors for The Living Desert. The Serious Choice for People who Love Palm Springs."

Next stop was at Lou Costello's.

Interestingly, in 1943, Abbott And Costello did a radio show called "Trip to Palm Springs" where they came to town to try and convince Veronica Lake to appear on their show.

This historic gate was the creation of King Camp Gillette. You know his name due to his razor, the first disruptors of the barbershop industry. Men’s facial trends were changing rapidly in the late 1800s. Long beards were out while clean chins and cheeks and a well-manicured mustache were in. To achieve this look, men could go to a barber two to three times per week or shave themselves, which could be a dangerous undertaking.

Standing at his sink in the early morning, Mr. Gillette realized his permanent blade razor was dull and required professional sharpening. In that moment of frustration, he saw that the only necessary part of his blade was the finest part of the tip. He quickly envisioned that tip on a flattened piece of steel, sharpened on both sides, produced at such a low cost that it was easily and quickly replaceable. King C. Gillette’s new, disposable razor blade and handle promised men safety and personal freedom to achieve the looks they desired.

It also allowed King Camp Gillette to afford to live anywhere. Recognized for his wealth and ideas, he had a plan to beautify the desert. After discovering Palm Springs, he would decamp from colder East Coast climes to live at The Desert Inn for winter months in the earliest days of the hotel. [Opened in 1909, the famed Desert Inn closed its doors in 1955 after founder Nellie's death, and was finally razed in 1967, making way for the Desert Fashion Shopping Plaza, which ironically has also been razed.]

Having been enchanted entirely, and particularly by the glorious gardens, Gillette wanted a desert place of his own. He soon bought a large swath of land in the Palm Springs Mesa and built a stately Spanish home, and as importantly, began extensive plantings. In the ensuing years, he would build more houses and multiple out-buildings, including gates, one of which survives as an entrance marker to the Mesa itself. His original holdings have now been subdivided many times and the houses remodeled many more.

Oh boy, things have changed!

Years later, Sonny Bono would purchase one parcel of Gillette's original swath. This estate, once owned by the late singer-turned-politician, was constructed in 1940 by the Gillette family. The 1.5-acre gated property features a six-bedroom, 6,648-square-foot main house and two guest houses, along with a tennis court, swimming pool and other amenities. It was sold by Sonny's widow shortly after his death in 1998.

But before that house and that wife, Sonny lived here with Cher.

In 2018, this home was on the market for the first time in 40 years. It was the estate of Pulitzer-winning author Herman Wouk, who published his last book at the age of 100 in 2016. In addition to Wouk’s storied residency, it was also the former home of actors Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner, from whom Wouk purchased the home for just under $1 million in 1983.

Built in 1940, the 1.6-acre property not only includes a main rock house measuring over 5,000 square feet with six bedrooms and 6.5 baths, but also a three-bedroom-two-bath guest house with its own entrance and parking for three to four cars, yielding a total living area of nearly 7,000 square feet. Wow.

For as long as we've been coming to Palm Springs, we've known it to be a very Gay welcoming town. Our tour guide, Marilyn, answered our question as to why was that so and we learned it had a lot to do with this guy, Edmund Goulding.

As the little town expanded so too did its reputation among the Hollywood elite. “Privacy" is what attracted the celebrities. The old studio system guarded stars like gold and required them to remain within a two-hour drive of Los Angeles. Paparazzi were not paid to travel beyond 100 miles so many would not come this far on their own dime (Palm Springs is 108.8 miles from L.A.).

Edmund Goulding, the actor-turned-director owned a compound in The Mesa neighborhood. His home, a back-lot version of a Normandy farmhouse, was surrounded by connecting cottages where male and female companions of varying sexual persuasions stayed for extended vacations.

The profile of Palm Springs continued to grow and so did the hedges that surrounded the homes, providing even more privacy for celebrities to indulge in their desires during the Hollywood heyday of the 1940s and ’50s. Oh the stories!

And how about the eclectic desert landmark know as the Santorini House? While most homes in Palm Springs would not conjure up thoughts of Greece, this residence, designed in 1977 by William Nicholson (the Bay Area architect who also completed the notorious Flintstone House a year prior) certainly does.

Each of Mr. Nicolson's unusual dwellings were constructed by shaping rebar and mesh frames over inflated balloons and spraying them with concrete; turns out the organic results had limited appeal. This Greek-is-chic home became Nicholson’s last work as an architect. I read that he was so discouraged that nobody wanted these designs that he changed professions, went into development, and stopped designing houses forever. Now nichey is so cool.

Lastly, I know nothing about this house but I do know that I love its use of color. What fun.

Our last event for this year's Modernism Week was the Vintage Car Show.

There's really not a lot to say about this show other than the fact that I was constantly wiping drool off each and every vehicle on display! I love this stuff.

“I'm drawn to the 1950s for lots of reasons -

everything from the fashion to the increasing sense of freedom

and modernity that builds throughout the decade.”

― Sara Sheridan

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1 comments:

Four Points Bulletin said...: If you had all the money in the world and were told to buy in Palm Springs it sure would be difficult to decide which house to buy! There is too much amazing...; February 25, 2023 at 6:29 AM

HAERR TRIPPIN'

PS Modernism Week: The Finale (for us)

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