Kaufmann Desert House

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Kaufmann Desert House
Kaufman Desert Home.jpg
Kaufmann Desert House, December 2017
Kaufmann Desert House
General information
StatusCompleted
Architectural style International Style
Location470 West Vista Chino
Palm Springs, California
United States
Coordinates 33°50′42″N116°33′10″W / 33.8451°N 116.5529°W / 33.8451; -116.5529
Completed1946
Design and construction
Architect(s)Richard J. Neutra

The Kaufmann Desert House, or simply the Kaufmann House, is a house in Palm Springs, California, that was designed by architect Richard Neutra in 1946. It was commissioned by Edgar J. Kaufmann, Sr., a businessman who also commissioned Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright. [1]

Contents

The house has been described as "an architectural marvel that helped define the modernist aesthetic of the resort city of Palm Springs". [1] [2]

It is designated a Class 1 Historic Site by Palm Springs City Council. [2]

History

The house was commissioned by Edgar J. Kaufmann, Sr., the owner of Kaufmann's Department Store in Pittsburgh, as a desert retreat from harsh winters. It was made famous by photographs taken by Julius Shulman in 1947 and the 1970 photograph "Poolside Gossip" by Slim Aarons. [1] [3] In 1935, Kaufmann had commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to design Fallingwater in Pennsylvania. [4]

After Kaufmann died in 1955, the house stood vacant for several years. It then had a series of owners, including singer Barry Manilow and San Diego Chargers owner Eugene V. Klein, [5] and had several renovations. These renovations enclosed a patio, added floral wallpaper to the bedrooms and removed a wall for the addition of a media room. The roof lines were also altered with the addition of air-conditioning units. After being listed for sale for 3½ years, the home was purchased in 1992 by Brent Harris, an investment manager, and his wife Beth Edwards Harris, an architectural historian, for $1.5 million. [3]

Seeking to restore the home to its original design, the Harrises contacted Marmol Radziner + Associates to undertake the five-year project, which began in 1993. [2] For references, the Harrises looked through the extensive Neutra archives at UCLA, found additional documents through Columbia University, and were able to work with Shulman to access some of his unpublished photos of the home's interior. They were able to obtain pieces from the original suppliers of paint and fixtures, and purchased a metal-crimping machine to reproduce the sheet-metal fascia that originally lined the roof. [3]

The Harrises were also able to have a long-closed section of a Utah quarry reopened to mine matching stone to replace what had been removed or damaged. [2] To help restore the desert buffer Neutra had envisioned for the house, the Harrises also bought several adjoining plots to more than double the land around the 3,200-square-foot (300 m2) house.[ citation needed ] They rebuilt a pool house that served as a viewing pavilion for the main house, and kept a tennis court that was built on a parcel added to the original Kaufmann property. [3]

After the Harrises divorced, the home was sold on May 13, 2008, for US$15 million at auction by Christie's as a part of a high-profile sale of contemporary art. [5] It had a presale estimate of US$15 million to US$25 million. [3] The sale later fell through, as the bidder breached terms of the purchase agreement. [6]

In October 2008, the house was listed for sale at US$12.95 million, but it was not sold. [7] It was again listed for sale in October 2020 at US$25 million. [8]

The Kaufmann house was included in a list of all-time top 10 houses in Los Angeles, despite its location in Palm Springs, in a Los Angeles Times survey of experts in December 2008. [9]

The house was part of the decor of the 2022 film Don't Worry Darling . [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Neutra</span> Austrian-American architect (1892–1970)

Richard Joseph Neutra was an Austrian-American architect. Living and building for the majority of his career in Southern California, he came to be considered a prominent and important modernist architect. His most notable works include the Kaufmann Desert House in Palm Springs, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fallingwater</span> House in Pennsylvania designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

Fallingwater is a house designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 in the Laurel Highlands of southwest Pennsylvania, about 70 miles (110 km) southeast of Pittsburgh in the United States. It is built partly over a waterfall on Bear Run in the Mill Run section of Stewart Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The house was designed to serve as a weekend retreat for Liliane and Edgar J. Kaufmann, the owner of Pittsburgh's Kaufmann's Department Store.

Albert Frey was a Swiss-born architect who established a style of modernist architecture centered on Palm Springs, California, United States, that came to be known as "desert modernism".

Emerson Stewart Williams, FAIA was a prolific Palm Springs, California-based architect whose distinctive modernist buildings, in the Mid-century modern style, significantly shaped the Coachella Valley's architectural landscape and legacy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mid-century modern</span> Architectural, interior, product, and graphic design of the mid-20th century

Mid-century modern (MCM) is a design movement in interior, product, graphic design, architecture, and urban development that was popular in the United States and Europe from roughly 1945 to 1969, during the United States's post–World War II period. The term was used descriptively as early as the mid-1950s and was defined as a design movement by Cara Greenberg in her 1984 book Mid-Century Modern: Furniture of the 1950s. It is now recognized by scholars and museums worldwide as a significant design movement. The MCM design aesthetic is modern in style and construction, aligned with the Modernist movement of the period. It is typically characterized by clean, simple lines and honest use of materials, and it generally does not include decorative embellishments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edgar J. Kaufmann</span> American businessman (1885–1955)

Edgar Jonas Kaufmann was an American businessman and philanthropist who owned and directed Kaufmann's Department Store, in Pittsburgh. He is also known for commissioning two modern architectural masterpieces, Fallingwater, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and the Kaufmann Desert House in Palm Springs, designed by Richard Neutra.

Slim Aarons was an American photographer noted for his images of socialites, jet-setters and celebrities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julius Shulman</span> American architectural photographer

Julius Shulman was an American architectural photographer best known for his photograph "Case Study House #22, Los Angeles, 1960. Pierre Koenig, Architect." The house is also known as the Stahl House. Shulman's photography spread the aesthetic of California's Mid-century modern architecture around the world. Through his many books, exhibits and personal appearances his work ushered in a new appreciation for the movement beginning in the 1990s.

Kaufmann House may refer to either of two houses commissioned by Edgar J. Kaufmann:

Kaufman House may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jardinette Apartments</span> United States historic place

Jardinette Apartments, now known as Marathon Apartments, is a four-story apartment building in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, designed by modernist Richard Neutra. It was Neutra's first commission in the United States. In his book Key Buildings of the Twentieth Century, Richard Weston called the Jardinette Apartments "one of the first Modernist buildings in America." It has also been called "America's first multi-family, International-style building."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neutra Office Building</span> United States historic place

The Neutra Office Building is a 4,800-square-foot (450 m2) office building in the Silver Lake section of Los Angeles, California. The building was owned and designed by Modernist architect Richard Neutra in 1950. It served as the studio and office for Neutra's architecture practice from 1950 until Neutra's death in 1970. The building has been declared a Historic Cultural Monument and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was listed for sale in 2007 at an asking price of $3,500,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neutra VDL Studio and Residences</span> Historic buildings in California, United States

Neutra VDL Studio and Residences, the home of architect Richard Neutra, is located in Los Angeles, California. It is also known as the Neutra Research House, the Van der Leeuw House, the Richard and Dion Neutra VDL Research House II, or the Richard and Dion Neutra VDL Research Houses and Studio. It was designed by Richard Neutra and his son Dion Neutra. The house is currently owned by California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and is maintained by its College of Environmental Design. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009, and was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2016.

Juergen Nogai is a German architecture, art and documentary photographer.

Donald Allen Wexler was an influential Mid-Century modern architect whose work is predominantly in the Palm Springs, California, area. He is known for having pioneered the use of steel in residential design.

The Elrod House is a residence in Palm Springs, California designed by American architect John Lautner and constructed in 1968. It is located on the edge of a hill at 2175 Southridge Drive in Palm Springs, California. The construction of the house was ordered by Arthur Elrod, the interior designer.

Marmol Radziner is a design-build practice based in Los Angeles that was founded in 1989 by American architects Leo Marmol and Ron Radziner. The firm specializes in residential, commercial, hospitality, cultural, and community projects, and offers various design services, including architectural design, construction, landscape design, interior design, furniture design, jewelry design, and modern architecture restoration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modernism Week</span> Mid-century architecture and design event in Palm Springs, California, United States

Modernism Week is a 501(c)(3) organization which provides public education programming fostering knowledge and appreciation of modern architecture, the mid-century modern architecture and design movement, the Palm Springs School of Architecture, as well as contemporary considerations surrounding historic preservation, cultural heritage, adaptive reuse, and sustainable architecture. Modernism Week provides annual scholarships to local students pursuing college educations in the fields of architecture and design and supports local and state organizations' efforts to preserve and promote the region's modern architecture. The organization is centered in the greater Palm Springs, California area in the Coachella Valley which is home to a significant collection of extant residential and commercial buildings designed in the mid-century modern vernacular.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villa Hermosa (Palm Springs)</span>

The Villa Hermosa is a mid-century modern private complex in the Old Las Palmas neighborhood of Palm Springs, California, United States. Located at 155 W Hermosa Place, near North Palm Canyon Drive and West El Alameda, it was originally commissioned as a residential hotel for winter visitors by C.K. Fulton in 1946. The property was featured in photos by Julius Shulman in 1947, and subsequently recognized locally as historically significant.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ho, Vivien (21 October 2020) Modernist architectural marvel made famous by Slim Aarons for sale for $25m in The Guardian. Retrieved 21 October 2020
  2. 1 2 3 4 Akkam, Alia (27 October 2020) For a Cool $25 Million, You Can Buy Richard Neutra’s Most Famous Palm Springs Home in Dwell. Retrieved 29 October 2020
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Wyatt, Edward (October 31, 2007) A Landmark Modernist House Heads to Auction in The New York Times. Retrieved 29 October 2020
  4. Morris, Jim (21 December 2019) History of Fallingwater by Architect Frank Lloyd Wright in Archute. Retrieved 21 October 2020
  5. 1 2 Avila, William (May 14, 2008) Kaufmann House sells for $15 million in The Desert Sun. Retrieved 29 October 2020
  6. Newman, Morris (May 2009). "Revisiting the Kaufmann House". Palm Springs Life.
  7. Wedner, Diane (October 26, 2008). "Neutra's Modernist masterpiece". Home of the Week. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 28, 2008.
  8. Clarke, Katherine (October 15, 2020). "Slim Aarons Immortalized This Richard Neutra Home in 'Poolside Gossip.' Now It's Selling for $25 Million". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  9. Mitchell, Sean (December 27, 2008). "The best houses of all time in L.A." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
  10. Eakin, Marah. "How 'Don't Worry Darling' Became the First Movie to Film at Richard Neutra's Kaufmann House". Dwell. Retrieved December 1, 2022.

Further reading