Award Luncheon Photos by Greg Day

E. Stewart Williams Lifetime Achievement Award Given in celebration of one of the great pioneers of Palm Springs Modernism, E. Stewart Williams, for a lifetime of architectural achievement. Accepting for the Williams family are Sidney Williams and Erik Williams with Peter Moruzzi and Trina Turk John Porter Clark House, 1939 John Porter Clark, Architect Owners: The Clark Family This year we are pleased to honor the John Porter Clark family for their stewardship in preserving the John Porter Clark House designed by the architect as his own home in 1939. The book "Palm Springs Weekend" devotes a section to Clark’s work and home, describing the house he designed for himself as a fully conceived, perfectly executed design. Clark arrived in Palm Springs in 1932 following several years with a Pasadena-based architectural firm. Built seven years later when Clark was still a bachelor, the house is light and practical - a machine-edged object standing in contrast to the desert, yet designed specifically for the site. Erected on what was once part of the El Mirador golf course, the house takes in the dramatic sweep of our mountains. Slender steel columns raise the one-room house above the ground, making way for Clark’s 1940 Ford to park in the shade beneath the house. Floor-to-ceiling glass provides living room views while horizontal ribbon windows are set above the long kitchen counter. Originally, the elevated portion of the building contained dining, living, and sleeping areas. Following Clark’s marriage to Louisa and the birth of their children, the house was expanded with a separate ground-level wing of bedrooms, all connected along an outdoor corridor. The house, when completed in 1939, was among the purest International Style examples of residential Modern architecture yet built in Southern California. Since its construction and following the passing of John Porter Clark in 1991, the house has been beautifully maintained and preserved by his family for future generations to appreciate. Elizabeth, Stanley, and Jennifer Clark Del Marcos Hotel, 1947 Architect: William Cody Owners: Eric Mellem and Lars Viklund This award is for the architectural preservation of a commercial property that was designed by the maverick Desert Modern architect William Cody in 1947. Cody arrived in the Coachella Valley in 1942 bringing a huge appetite for life that gave his buildings a liveliness and personality not unlike his own. Said architectural historian Alan Hess of Cody’s work, his personal energy can be seen, remarkably disciplined, in the intensity of his designs, in the tense proportions, the energetic details, the polished compositions, the interwoven spaces. One of Cody’s first designs for the desert, the Del Marcos Hotel followed the lead of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesen West in Phoenix Arizona, then less than 10 years old. Similarly, the Del Marcos Hotel is a composition of natural redwood and stone walls that contrast with a framework of angled wood doglegs in a design that rises out of the earth. In 1949, William Cody received an award from the Southern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects for his Del Marcos Hotel design. Upon purchasing the property several years ago, the new owners Eric Mellem and Lars Viklund began the process of returning the hotel back to its original 1947 appearance. This process included the removal of inappropriate modifications to the interior and exterior of the building. Today, the restored Del Marcos Hotel is a tribute to the energy and commitment of its owners to preserving the heritage of William Cody’s Desert Modernism in Palm Springs. Award recipients Erik Mellum and Lars Vikland Edelstone Residence, 1970 Interior Designer: Arthur Elrod Associates Owners: John Siri and Philip Cooper This award is for the preservation of an original Desert Modern interior. The Edelstone Residence at the Racquet Club features interiors decorated by the internationally renowned design firm of Arthur Elrod Associates. Elrod was the ultimate professional, a perfectionist with both charm and elegance. In 1953, he established his own design studio in Palm Springs which became Arthur Elrod Associates ten years later. Arthur Elrod and his team created spectacular interiors for clients such as Lucille Ball, Bob and Dolores Hope, Jack Benny, Winthrop Rockefeller as well as clients throughout the United States. The Edelstone Residence actually consists of two condominium units designed by architect Hal Levitt in 1970 that were combined during construction to form an 1800 square foot space. Chicago businessman and bachelor Sigmund Edelstone commissioned Arthur Elrod Associates to design the interiors and landscaping. Harold Broderick was the project’s lead designer. An extensive article published in Architectural Digest noted that the project took over one year to complete due to the exacting standards demanded by the client. Concern with the smallest detail, and an unflagging search for quality, marked the finished product. Edelstone wanted a contemporary home appropriate to the desert, with the California flair typical of an Arthur Elrod Associates design. The condominium had to accommodate Edelstone’s growing contemporary art collection as well as be a comfortable setting in which to entertain with flexibility. The result was the work of many fine artists and master craftsmen with features rarely found in even the most expensive and elaborate homes. All doors, for example, were made by a cabinetmaker, and electrical systems and controls were also custom made. “They are unique,” Broderick was quoted as saying, and every detail is one of a kind. Harold Broderick himself designed most of the furniture, even the plumbing fixtures. The dining room buffet is of considerable style and ingenuity: there is complete storage space for flatware along with a stainless steel top for serving, recessed outlets for hot trays, clever underlighting and two concealed stereo speakers. Closets are lined with horsehair. When co-owners John Siri and Philip Cooper purchased the condominium several years ago, they chose to honor Arthur Elrod Associates’ legacy by restoring the dwelling’s original remaining interior elements and adding Elrod or Elrod-inspired furnishings to the residence. As opposed to removing the custom built-in buffet, bookcases, electric wall panels, bathroom fixtures and many other of the condo’s unique elements, they restored them. Instead of succumbing to the temptation to redo the property in their own image, John and Philip respected the artistry and design genius of Harold Broderick and Arthur Elrod Associates, preserving the beauty of the original design. Award recipient John Siri Grace Miller House, 1937 Architect: Richard Neutra Owner: Catherine Meyler Constructed in 1937, the Grace Miller House started off surrounded by nothing but windswept brush and views of the mountains near the Racquet Club on North Indian Avenue. The house was designed by Richard Neutra, one of America’s most influential Modern architects. The house was built for a highly astute and courageous woman, Grace Miller, who transported the European “Mensendieck” exercise technique to the desert and then taught it to high-end clients in this house/studio when Palm Springs was still young. One elegant glass corner of the structure emerges from its stucco shell to be embraced by a sheltered reflecting pool; on the other studio side, large translucent lights of glass, not quite floor-to-ceiling, serve to illuminate the moving body while conferring privacy upon it. The house still retains the many original features and details that speak volumes to a profoundly rich collaboration between architect and sophisticated client, not least a quality of taut serenity about the place. It was Miller who insisted the ceiling be raised 6 inches for a feeling of lightness; it was Neutra who knew the reflecting pool would cast dancing light on the white ceiling, who designed bedroom cabinetry calibrated precisely to house specific hats and sweaters. Following its sale by Grace Miller in the 1940s, the house was altered and mistreated by a series of owners winding up as a neglected rental property for several decades. Property owner and award recipient Catherine Meyler purchased the house in 2000 from Hal Meltzer, who had begun the early stages of what would become, under Catherine Meyler’s ownership, a multi-year, Herculean effort at bringing the extraordinary Grace Miller House back to its original elegance. Some of her restoration highlights include: replacing the roof, re-piping, re-plumbing, replacing the electrical system, reframing the living room and garage, installing new insulation in all walls and ceilings, replacing window glass, refinishing the concrete floor, and building a six foot wall around the property. A new HVAC system was cleverly designed to fit seamlessly into the existing structure. Ms. Meyler also commissioned expert craftsmen to recreate the original built-in furniture in the living room/studio and master bedroom. Finally, this year she installed new landscaping and a swimming pool on the property. Award recipient Catherine Meyler Palm Desert Community Presbyterian Church Family Life Center, 2004 Architect: Phillip K. Smith, III This award is for Excellence in New Modern Design, which is given for contemporary architecture that exhibits the spirit of Desert Modernism in its design but does not attempt to mimic the architecture of the past. This year the Palm Desert Community Presbyterian Church Family Life Center was selected for this award. The building’s architect, Phillip K. Smith III, grew up in the Coachella Valley before receiving his Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1996. Following work for east coast based architects, time spent as gallery coordinator for the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and his assistance overseeing the installation and curation of important architectural shows, he moved back to the desert in 2000. Now based in Indio, Smith established The Art Office - a multi-disciplinary studio for art, architecture, and design. He is currently working on several commercial, retail, and residential projects throughout the valley and hopes to be part of the revitalization of Downtown Indio. Smith is the founding chairman of the Architecture and Design Council at the Palm Springs Art Museum established in 2003. He hopes to bring new ideas and new design to the desert and to be part of the valley’s architectural and cultural future. In 2004, Smith completed the Family Life Center for the Palm Desert Community Presbyterian Church campus located on Highway 74. Inspired by the existing 1968 sanctuary and the Santa Rosa Mountains, concrete block was used to establish both color and form for the building. Alternating depths and finishes of the block create a heavily rusticated base onto which the classroom and auditorium spaces are positioned. These volumes, arranged around a central corridor, push to the edge for their light source and pull away to create elevated planters. The roof lines were lifted towards the north to provide additional light and views for the classroom spaces. The roof to the far east enclosing the auditorium was lifted to create a visual link to the sweeping roof of the existing sanctuary, while providing an acoustically sound interior. Accepting on behalf of Phillip K. Smith III is Lisa Vossler. Representing the church is Pastor Doug Garrard. Click here to view the 2004 PSMODCOM Award Winners. Click here to view the 2003 PSMODCOM Award Winners.

The Palm Springs Modern Committee

Contact: Peter Moruzzi

Website Designer & Editor: Michael Stern

Admin