(first posted 2/19/2017) Stephanie found this gallery of shots of Palm Springs mid-century classic houses that were all shot by moonlight. And several have some very appropriate cars parked with them too. They’re from a book “Midnight Modern” by photographer Tom Blachford.
This first one is the Ship of the Desert, by Wilson &Webster, 1936. And Dodge, by Chrysler, 1960
Palmer & Krisel, 1959
Kaufman Desert House, Richard Neutra, 1946
Architect unknown, 1967
Frank Sinatra Twin Palms Estate, E. Stewart Williams, 1947
Donald Wexler, 1962 & 1963. Studebaker Avanti
The Avanti is perfect there, and reminds me of this publicity shot. It’s no coincidence that the Avanti is associated with Palm Springs, as it was designed in a few weeks there, in a house that Raymond Loewy rented and sequestered his small crew of designers there in January-February 1961, until they had it in the can, in six weeks. Full story here.
Frey House; Albert Frey, 1963 My favorite
Hal Levitt, 1961. Thunderbird, 1957
Edris House, E. Stewart Williams, 1954
Midnight Modern: Palm Springs Under the Full Moon, by Tom Blachford
It took us a while to get there.
But once we did, we knew we will be comming back for more.
Thanks for these beautiful pictures, love the Ship of the desert the most but all of them are great plus the Avanti’s are not to bad either. makes want to visit Palm Springs. Sarasota Fl has some beautiful MCM homes as well. many incorporate sliding glass doors that really accentuate the living space.
Google Harkavy House for more info.
Love the cars
and the architecture.
We will come back for more.
Great stuff.
Only in the last few years, have I finally been able to develop an appreciation for modernist architecture. Historically I thought it was too stark and industrial looking.
Now I think it looks pretty cool. Funny how time re-writes the rules.
Great stuff, Paul. Thank you for making my day brighter!
Very nice! These are beautiful (and in some cases somewhat dated) examples of modern architecture in Palm Springs and elsewhere!
It brings to mind the elegant—yet fictional—house adjacent to Mount Rushmore and featured in the epic Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece, “North by Northwest.” This beautiful house was similar in many respects to the Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Fallingwater.” There is even a 1952 Ford Customline featured in some of the images.
Images©MGM
Not to mention Eva Marie Saint tooling around in that white ’58 Lincoln Continental Mark III convertible. And you’re entirely correct about the “fictional” house, although conjured up in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright, the exterior shots were matte paintings and the interior shots constructed movie sets, all blended together to look like the real thing.
I was expecting some mention, if not a photo, of Falling Water. One of the greatest houses ever built, which is actually faint praise since it requires me to find something even better.
Another image of the house in “North by Northwest.”
Images©MGM
Could be a house taken right out the Thunderbirds from 1965-66.
Surprised some zillionaire has not but a replica of the N by NW house down to the interior trim. It would be worth visiting, if not renting out to movie studios for other period filming.
Man this brings back memories. In 1968-70, I had a paper route. One of my customers was an attorney that had a cool 50’s style flat roof house like the house pictured with the Avanti. (In Columbus Ohio) And the kicker, is that he had an Avanti under his carport as well! To this day I still want that car.
I always associated modern architecture with “The Jetsons”. It was just so far out. Maine was largely spared that trend so living here, it seems even more alien. It’s taken me a lifetime to appreciate it, but I can finally see something in it, even though I wouldn’t want to live in one. Cool pics.
Robert above notes “funny how time rewrites the rules.” How true. So many of these houses were allowed to fall into various states of disrepair over the years, only to be resurrected at enormous cost and now venerated once again. They are constantly showing up on tours during “Modernism Week” here in Palm Springs, which is just getting underway again. Interestingly, the Edris House shown above, which has been owned for the past 17 years by one of our city councilmen, has just come on the market for $4.2 million. It boggles the mind.
Love the ’57 Thunderbird pictured with the Hal Levitt home, although a ’61 T-Bird might have been more in keeping with the early Sixties modernist design. And I’m sure I’ve seen that ’60 Dodge Polara shown with the Ship of the Desert home around town, even captured a shot of it (or else its twin, which seems unlikely) a couple of years ago.
Oops, sorry about the rotated view, it was upright when I loaded it.
Love that ’60 Dodge. I was born in ’60, and shortly thereafter, my Dad traded in his ’56 Chevy 210 (a four door sedan) in for a 1960 Dodge Scenica with 2 doors. Like many new parents, mine were paranoid about the kids in the back opening up the doors and falling out while the car was in motion… now they have electronic child locks and car seats and such, but I digress. Dad always preferred a coupe anyway, especially a hardtop, and bought one of these. It was the only MOPAR he ever had until buying a 1994 Concorde. I wasn’t very car aware until age 5 or 6 when he bought a new ’66 Chevy Impala. I barely remember the Dodge; I just recall it had a lot of chrome on the front, what looked like rocket engines in the back, and it was light blue. Kinda like the car below without the blue light on top.
An unabashed fan of mid-century modern here. These shots are fantastic – the decision to shoot them in moonlight was inspired. Thank you Tom.
I believe the Avanti in the photo with the Wexler house isn’t a 1963. The rectangular headlight surrounds reveal it to be an extremely rare 1964 Studebaker Avanti, or possibly an early Avanti II.
I had just noticed that as well, plus I have never seen that style of hubcap on the gold Avanti in the next picture? maybe the hubcaps are a moon light issue?
Magical! Probably a book worth having.
Great designs. Although as a resident of snow country, all those flat roofs make me a little uncomfortable. 😉
Awesome pictures! Even given the year the photos were taken, the houses and buildings look just as modern today as they did then. I’d give anything to afford to visit these places. 🙂
Love the first house. Would replace the car with a WM/WN Caprice, in pearlscent white or black. And of course, a classic Rangie… in yellow/mustard
There’s so much character in those designs. Sadly, not showing in today’s constructions
I was just in Palm Springs last week! The architecture and scenery blew me away, even the modern buildings. Such a beautiful place!
The house in the first photo with that rounded room is very interesting. There is a house near me with one of those three-season rooms added on that is identical to the room on that house!
Thing is, the house is a standard brick McMansion and that rounded room is off-white, like the featured home and looks horribly out of place.
No account for taste, I suppose.
Palm Springs looks to be an amazing place to visit, for I love the architecture featured as well as the cars, especially the Avanti. My dream car.
I live in a neighborhood built mostly from 1958-62. In it are a handful of midcentury modern homes, most of which found their way onto the most interesting wooded and hilly lots. It is not a style that I would aspire to own, but I do appreciate them for their unique appeal.
Of course, none of them is on the scale of these from Palm Springs. I think it may have been the WSJ Magazine from this past weekend that featured four or five such homes still in the hands of their original owners. Fascinating stuff.
Beautiful shots. I’ll have to keep an eye out for the book.
Fantastic photos! One of the most obvious examples of this sort of architecture in my city resides in an otherwise very traditional old money neighborhood. I absolutely love it, but it sits on an unusually small lot near the street, and is an absolute fishbowl at night with its huge windows and lack of window covers. These homes tend to need private estate type lots.
Here’s one in the same spirit:AZ Moderne
Wow–fantastic photography and it does seem to be a book worth owning. The homes are just fantastic–I’ve always found MCM architecture to be interesting but have really come to appreciate it lately (along with about half of the country, I suppose, given that it’s rather trendy at the moment.) The period cars are very nice “jewelry” to the amazing homes as well. The Wexler house with the Avanti is one of my favorites–I’ve always been a sucker for folded-plane roofs though.
Ship of the Desert is also amazing, and a fitting lead photo–but isn’t it more Streamline Moderne than MCM? (Educate me if I’m wrong, I love architecture but I’m no professional!)
It is, without a doubt. There’s a reason why they call it “MCM” 🙂
OK, so now I’ll have to take my blue ’60 Dodge and park it in front of a striking example of Mid-century Modern architecture and take a photo. I’ll put it on the Cohort.
Hope you don’t mind, but I just copied your Dodge to my desktop! 🙂
Cool!
I tried to do a similar thing with this ’59 Lincoln:
I had grown up seeing the MCM Eichler type houses in the South Bay area, Hayward, Fremont and San Jose. The design cues were applied to lower cost, small houses, usually around 1,000-1,200 sq. ft. not true Eichlers. We called them flat tops. Later I saw these style homes in more expensive neighborhoods where they were much bigger, over 2,500 sq. ft. These homes are much more attractive when they are larger and are on bigger lots.
My neighborhood looks like traditional 70’s style houses, but they have many of the same design elements. My house is a traditional three bedroom ranch, but has a very open floor plan, high beamed ceilings, and many large windows. The kitchen has six ft, corner windows. There are three sliding glass doors, there is a wall of windows, incorporating one of the sliders, on the outside wall of the living room, leading to the patio. Along with a large window over the sliding glass door of the family room. The sight lines from every room extend easily to the outdoors. The master bedroom also has a ten ft. slider that opens to the patio.
Initially I did not like the open floor plan, I wanted a traditional closed design with distinct walled off rooms. It took a few years for me to appreciate the design. It makes the house seem much bigger and more spacious, though it was noisier when the kids were younger.
That Blachford recreated these surreal scenes some 60 years later is testament to his creative ability. Such color and clarity that dry desert air makes possible.
Man, don’t do this to me. I’m happy where I’m at. But those shots of Palm Springs make me want to put my place on the market and move!
Thought 2. Flat roofs are the devils work, even in the desert, maybe especially in the desert. Short life due to the heat and UV, coupled with the rare, but often intense rain when it does come.
Thought 3. You need covered parking. At least a car cover. Nirvana to those in the rust belt, but the sun kills, paint, upholstery and rubber. There is no free lunch.
I’ve got to say, you’ve still got me checking the real estate listings…
I’ve always thought the Paul R. Williams house designed for Lucy and Desi in Palm Springs deserved something more stylish than a Nash in the carport in this 1955 Julius Shulman photo. Maybe a new Continental?