James Lupori of Kenmore Undressed commented on my post in which I had said I’d been down in the California desert for some work (some) and some play (lots).  I told him I hadn’t taken a lot of pictures, but thought I would share some of the differences with the architecture and real estate down there as compared to the Northwest.  

In Seattle, people are more private about who owns what and where it is located.  Most people know where Bill Gates’ home is, especially since the tour boats go by everyday in the summer.  But there are many celebrities’ homes that are hidden away and private. There’s a different celebrity mentality in the desert, possibly because of the Hollywood “glamor” influence.  Homes become associated either with the famous person who lived or lives in the home or the architect who designed it. There’s the Elizabeth Taylor house, the Frank Sinatra house, and the Bob Hope house, just to name a few.

There’s The Kaufmann House in Palm Springs, which I wrote about this past spring when it went to auction at Sotheby’s as an art piece and sold for $15 million. 

The Kaufmanns were a Pittsburgh department store family who had, arguably, one of the most iconic mid-century homes built in the California desert.  The Kaufmanns built the home in the 1940’s, but the home will forever be associated with them, even though it is on its 3rd (or 4th) owner!

While in the desert, I had the good fortune to be invited to The Dinah Shore house.  This home is privately owned, but was opened for a party.  Donald Wexler, an architect famous for his mid-century modern designs which decorate the Coachella Valley, created the home. (If you click on the link to Wexler, you can see photos of his work, including the Dinah Shore house.)  With unbelievable spaces, clean lines, high ceilings, walls of glass framing the mountain views, and fabulous materials, the home is drop dead gorgeous.  (I feel like I’m writing a real estate ad.) 

In Seattle and on the eastside, there are some neighborhoods with the mid-century flair, but they are few and far between.  I wrote a piece a couple of months ago about Hilltop in Bellevue, a unique neighborhood of mid-century homes built by Seattle architects in the late 40’s and early 50’s.  Lake Hills, built in the 1950’s, in Bellevue is a huge neighborhood of mid-century homes. When it was built, it was one of the Eastside’s cutting edge suburban developments.  The homes in Lake Hills share some of the same mid-century styling with big windows and clean lines, but on a much smaller scale.

Since it’s a private home, I was not able to take photos of the Dinah Shore house, but was able to take some photos of The Greta Garbo house.  The Garbo house is now on the grounds of the La Quinta Resort, which is where the Windermere Real Estate Symposium was held.  Garbo’s house is more typical of the Spanish style found in many of the 20th century desert homes. Spanish styling is incredibly popular, along with the mid-century dynamic in the California desert.  What a great place for the party that was going on!

However, Spanish architecture is fairly rare in the Seattle area.  Perhaps our cooler weather lends itself to other styles?  Many Spanish style homes are oriented to the outdoors with large patios and courtyards. The Garbo house is divided into two buildings with a massive courtyard, fountain, and fireplace in the middle, which you can see in the first photo of the Garbo house above. The dining room and kitchen were in one building while the other living spaces were across the courtyard.  We were only allowed into certain rooms, but we were still able to get a feel for the Moorish/Spanish style used in the home.

Oh by the way, the desert is also famous for its mountains, but they are just a tad drier than the Cascades in the Northwest and not too many evergreens can be found!