Modernism Week Fall Preview
By Bob Bogard
Modernism Week’s 2018 Fall Preview will take place October 18-21 at various locations in the Coachella Valley. The weekend’s events provide attendees with a sampling of the events and activities that will be offered during the annual 11-day festival in February 2019. Highlights of the October Fall Preview include a wide range of events in Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, and Indian Wells including walking tours, Premier Double Decker Architectural Bus tours and Charles Phoenix-led bus tours, a tour showcasing homes across a range of neighborhoods, and a new mix of home tours, educational events, and evening cocktail parties.
Fall Preview allows attendees to get a sneak peak at what they might experience in February, including two Featured Homes. Modernism Week veteran designer Christopher Kennedy returns to Fall Preview with La Vie En Rose, a Modernism Week Featured Home (open Friday– Sunday, 9 am – 1:30 pm, $30) that debuts a spectacular renovation of a quintessential midcentury property. This 1958 home is in posh Vista Las Palmas and backs up to the San Jacinto mountains. In February, Kennedy will also offer tours of a different house, the 2019 Modernism Week Show House: The Christopher Kennedy Compound, featuring designs from 15 interior designers.
The other Modernism Week Featured Home is H3K Design’s Green Gables (open Saturday and Sunday, 9 am – 1:30 pm, $30). Designed by Palmer-Krisel and built in 1958 by the Alexander Construction Company, this 3 bedroom 2 bathroom home is undergoing a complete renovation by H3K Design. The house sits on an oversized manicured lot at the gateway to the Twin Palm development – the first major Alexander sub-division in Palm Springs. The High Gable roofline is a quintessential example of mid-century modern design with walls of glass, dramatic ceilings floating in air and natural stone walls. This is the public debut of the house, which features an expanded master bathroom, a restored interior atrium and a kitchen that pays homage to the kitchens of the day.
Hallmarks of Modernism Week events are the inspirational and educational tours of neighborhoods and homes. New tours this year include:
Steel x Three Tour, Saturday 10 am – 1 pm, $50
This tour is a rare opportunity to visit three of the iconic Steel Development Houses (Steel #1, #2 and #4) designed by the architectural firm of Wexler & Harrison in 1962. The steel houses show how the combination of architectural imagination and factory-built components created a flexibility of construction that continues to inspire architects today. Organized by the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation.
The Modern Heritage Home Tour (Rancho Mirage & Palm Springs) Saturday 1 – 5 pm, $150
Seven properties, seven unique examples of Desert Modernism, and one incredible tour. This tour profiles homes designed by midcentury masters Albert Frey, Donald Wexler, Jon Walling, and more. The tour will conclude with a signature cocktail, at the last house on the tour. Organized by Palm Springs Modern Committee.
Returning tours include the popular Cul-de-Sac Experience and Framed Spaces home tours. The “Cul-de-Sac Experience” at Canyon View Estates #4 will take place on Sunday, October 21 at 10 am. This tour combines vintage automobiles artfully displayed on the driveways of six homes designed by William Krisel in a quaint cul-de-sac in South Palm Springs. Participants have access to all of the homes on the tour, and tickets are $65. The “Framed Spaces Home Tour” on Saturday, October 20 will feature a collection of modernist homes that accentuates the “art” of living in the desert.
What Modernism Week experience would be complete without ending the day with a spectacular cocktail party at an architecturally significant home? This year, Fall Preview attendees may attend:
On Friday, October 19, Fall Preview attendees are invited to attend the festive Opening Night Party and Early Buying Preview Reception at the Modernism Show & Sale at the Palm Springs Convention Center. The popular Show and Sale, which offers important 20th and 21st century objects, furniture, art and textiles from more than 40 premier national and international decorative and fine arts dealers, continues on Saturday and Sunday. The Friday night party is the prime opportunity for shopping direct from dealers before the show opens to the public on Saturday. Tickets are available in advance at modernismweek.com or at the door.
Popular returning events include Modernism Week’s signature Premier Double Decker Architectural Bus Tour that provides guests with a 2.5-hour overview of significant civic and commercial buildings, as well as residential properties. Daily tours depart from the parking lot of H3K Home, located at 501 South Palm Canyon Drive in downtown Palm Springs, where Modernism Week will have a box office where attendees may purchase tickets to Fall Preview events.
For complete schedule of the Fall Preview visit modernismweek.com. Following the Fall Preview, Modernism Week’s signature 11-day festival will take place February 14-24, 2019. The schedule and tickets will be available November 1 at 12 p.m. PST. To receive updates, visit modernismweek.com and follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
