Description

Donald Wexler, FAIA, Architect | The Wexler Residence, 1955. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is designated as a Palm Springs Class 1 Historic Resource, with substantial Mills Act tax savings. On almost a third of an acre in fashionable Movie Colony East, two blocks from Ruth Hardy Park, the architect's own home remains a testament to the timelessness of the Mid-Century Modern design for which his name is virtually synonymous. Donald Wexler is widely considered the father of desert architecture in the Coachella Valley, "the architect who gave shape to Palm Springs" in the words of the New York Times, famous for the Palm Springs International Airport, the Dinah Shore estate, and the innovative Steel Development Houses that dot the northern edge of the city. Here in the home where he and his family lived for almost forty years, the architect employed a softer touch with an all-wood structure, incorporating elements learned as an apprentice in the offices of Richard Neutra and William F. Cody. The wood post and double-beam system, a Wexler signature, provided a flexible open floor plan which could expand and contract as the needs of the family changed. Interior walls project through floor-to-ceiling glass, connecting the eye to the landscape beyond and dissolving the indoor/outdoor boundary. Tongue-and-groove ceilings allow for the elegantly slender fascia profile, and deep overhangs shield the interior from the mid-day sun. Fortunately, the current steward has preserved these elements, along with vertical fir siding, spun metal can lights, and other original finishes that define the essential architecture. In a collaborative intervention by Donald Wexler himself, architect Lance O'Donnell, and interior designer Darren Brown, the home was completely remodeled from top to bottom, winning the Palm Springs Modern Committee's Residential Restoration of the Year Award shortly after completion. Sympathetic to the home's original design, new terrazzo floors were introduced throughout, and kitchen and bathrooms were completely redone, with stainless steel appliances, marble slabs, and European fixtures and fittings that have brought the home into alignment with contemporary lifestyle standards. Finally, a painstakingly curated Wexler White paint unifies the composition. New roof, new HVAC, and a new solar system round out the functional upgrades. The site itself is completely private, surrounded by a hedgerow, invisible from the street. Inside, however, the property opens up to the house, surrounded by ancient boulders, and a mature landscape of native plants, most likely the unsubstantiated work of designer Antone Dalu, who worked on most of Wexler's projects in the 1950s with a refresh by William Kopelk of Inside Outside. A substantial black-bottom swimming pool and detached spa offer views of the San Jacinto mountains in the distance.