Julie and I have returned to the desert to delight in the 20th Anniversary of the premier Palm Springs event which celebrates midcentury art, architecture, and culture.

We were only participating in two days of the 11-day Modernism Week which features more than 350 tours, programs and events. We picked a schedule that was perfect for our timing and our pocketbooks.

Our first stop is always the Palm Springs Vintage Market. Here we meander, wish, and thoroughly enjoy all the offerings.

Today's treasured find was Josh Agle (SHAG). If you don't know this talented artist, and all-around great guy, click here for my introductory post about him.

What I fully love about this marketplace is the constant flashbacks to my childhood. My brother and I spent hours on a bike just like this. I haven't seen one since we rode one. So wild.

We planned a diverse lineup for our two days of Modernism Week. The architecture component of our day began with the Green Gables Home Tour.

"Designed by Palmer-Krisel and built in 1958 by the Alexander Construction Company, this original 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home has been previously open to Modernism Week attendees after undergoing a complete renovation by H3K Design in 2019. The house sits on an oversized manicured lot at the gateway to the Twin Palms development–the first major Alexander subdivision in Palm Springs–where its high gable roofline is an ideal example of midcentury Modern design with walls of glass, dramatic ceilings floating in the air and natural stone walls."

It is very special to be welcomed into people's homes and to witness their pride and to experience the awesomeness of them sharing it with us desert dreamers.

I would move here tomorrow!

Our next stop was for a presentation titled, Marvelous Motels: Southern California’s Legacy Motels. Oh man, so up my alley.

Barkev Msrlyan led us on an incredible architectural journey of fabulous motels that were designed to stand out. For me, this was edge of my seat stuff. Wow.

With the rise of the American road trip, Motels popped up in large numbers. Motel is a shortened version of the term motor hotel being coined in 1925 by Arthur Heineman, who built the Milestone Mo-Tel in San Luis Obispo. Who knew?!

Growing up in Pasadena, Barkev began with an introduction to the Saga Pasadena Motor Hotel. This beauty is still in Pasadena and has maintained its midcentury grandeur.

When his discussion turned east and followed Route 66, I was totally enthralled.

Steve and I got our Kicks on Route 66 in 2021. That journey introduced us to many of the treasures Barkev shared with us. What a great reminder of our trip.

Both Julie and I got extra giddy when he turned his attention to Anaheim, the home of Disneyland (1955). The opening of Disneyland created a tourism boom in the Anaheim area. Walt Disney had originally intended to purchase additional land to build accommodations for Disneyland visitors; however, the park's construction drained his financial resources and he was unable to acquire more land. Entrepreneurs eager to capitalize on Disney's success moved in and built hotels, restaurants, and shops around Disneyland and eventually boxed in the Disney property, and turned the area surrounding Disneyland into the boulevards of colorful neon signs that Walt Disney had tried to avoid. The city of Anaheim, eager for tax revenue these hotels would generate, did little to obstruct their construction.

We were even introduced to Andy Anaheim. With his ant-like antennae and Mickey Mouse-ish nose, Andy was a quirky little cartoon character who became Anaheim's official mascot in 1953.  Perpetually smiling, Andy embodied the city's optimism during a period of incredible changes.  In fact, his whole body stood for Anaheim, literally, with a capital A!

Andy belongs to the City of Anaheim's Chamber of Commerce, a generous gift from Walt Disney himself.  While Disneyland was in its early planning stages, City officials requested a special mascot - a character with a cheerful face to help ease and endorse Anaheim's growth from a quiet farming community into a booming vacation destination for the whole world. Andy Anaheim was a huge success. I can't believe I had never heard of him.

"In a time when neon lights flickered in the night sky and motels transformed roadside stops into vibrant destinations. These architectural treasures take us back to an era when the mundane was transformed into the magnificent, captivating travelers with their vibrant charm."

"MOON LEVEL LUXURY AT DOWN TO EARTH RATES", was owner Al Stovall's slogan for his out-of-this-world Space Age Lodge.

Al Stovall, a past president of Best Western, was the original owner and designer, and was inspired in the design by his affiliation with the newly formed Space program. He owned a copper mine and a plastic factory, which made his ability to create special designs and implement a variety of creative interior and exterior decorations a cinch. Many of the lamps, room dividers and exterior do-dads were made from materials from his mine and factory.

There is so much interesting history I missed out on. These lectures make them become current and are so dang intriguing. It's fantastic that people are preserving these moments in time for all of us to 'relive' them together. Wow.

A walk to lunch offered visual treats, too.

Dining on the patio of eight4nine was divine. So very Palm Springs!

We have longingly admired Merito Manor, from the outside, for years. Today, we toured this 1961 Barry Berkus-designed midcentury gem which gave us the opportunity to explore eight restored units with original features in Old Las Palmas.

Merito Manor is a 10-unit single-story condominium complex tucked away on a secluded one-acre lot, just a few blocks from downtown. Folded plate roofs and arched clerestory windows above decorative rock walls make a remarkable and rewarding example of midcentury Modern architecture. Floor-to-ceiling windows and sliding glass doors overlook large private patios. All units were originally 1426 square feet with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a den.

"Screen walls of cut rock, in a pattern dubbed peanut brittle, were placed between the thin wood columns, but these rock walls do not extend up to the roof line emphasizing that it is the thin columns, not the heavy rock walls, that support the roof and allow the post and beam structural module to be expressed, a common tenet of Modern architecture, Built at a time when electricity was cheap, Merito won the Gold Medal Medallion Award for being designed as a Total Electric Home."

I still can't believe I was welcomed in. I was like a kid in a candy shop.

How about this General Electric Cooking Control Center? Located on the wall adjacent to the cooktop, this was a real eye opener. So cool.