photo via jetsetmodern.com
I received an email from a non-commenting Basketlurker named Marie, regarding the house they all stayed in Palm Springs. Honestly, it has all the information and there’s no point in me rewording it. Enjoy!
I immediately recognized the house where Don stayed in the latest episode as being by Pierre Koenig (or at least in the style of Koenig). I recently saw an exhibit at the Oakland Museum on the “Birth of the Cool” that featured photographs of his “case study” houses.
They are very “space age” modern, and very open, with huge windows (well very few walls) and are almost surreal. These houses were actually designed as “case studies,” and to me they don’t seem very livable (lack of privacy and/or protection from LA sun) but are quite stunning visually.
They are also quite iconic of the ideals of the period and there are some famous photographs showing an idealized set of people inhabiting them — which seeing the people acting in the episode reminded me of.
Anyway, once again the creators of Mad Men did their homework and found a set that is cutting edge for the period and amazing to look at: http://www.jetsetmodern.com/koenigarticle.htm
Marie, feel free to de-lurk and take a bow. Thanks!
16 Responses to “Info on the Palm Springs house”
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The house immediately reminded me of the Elrod house in Palm Springs, featured in Diamonds Are Forever (1971).
http://www.newsday.com/features/home/la-hm-lautne…
and
http://www.hgtv.com/decorating/diamonds-are-forev…
The Palm Springs house is gorgeous and typical of the modern estate-like homes in California. As a native Californian, (who has also spent many years on the East Coast,) I wondered how Mad Men was going to portray the "Left Coast". As usual, they did a wonderful job. Moreover, the references by Pete to his disdain and general feelings of discomfort re: The Left Coast were spot on. I was 9 years old in 1962 and remember the clothes, the general ambiance, as well as the difficulties. Mad Men brings this home to me on many levels.
Great job, Marie and Roberta! I had not heard of Koenig, but I am a huge fan of the futurist work of Richard Neutra (did a ton of Palm Springs-area houses) and John Lautner (Elrod home from "Diamonds Are Forever", Chemosphere house featured in "Body Double", Bob Hope's Palm Springs home).
There was a wonderful Lautner exhibit at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, which sadly ended this past Sunday.
As Bond fans will know, Neutra was a huge influence on Ken Adam, who designed many of the early Bond films and was responsible for the more audacious settings, usually villains' lairs.
Of course, these gentlemen and their successors are ultimately the progeny of the great Frank Lloyd Wright, but that's a topic for another day…
thank you so much for this post! in austin, we are fortunate enough to be a host city for "birth of the cool" exhibit come spring '09. another embarrassment of riches will be tomorrow evening, when the austin film festival debuts Eric Briker's documentary VISUAL ACOUSTICS: The Modernism of Julius Schulman (the man behind the photography of those iconic structures). he *so* defined how we as an audience "see" modernism – how it's presented. for anyone lucky enough to be in town, Shulman will be present at the screening tomorrow.
http://aff.bside.com/2008/films/visualacousticsth…
Two things: Saw this article today on how women are fantasizing about Don Draper, and thought you'd enjoy: http://gawker.com/5063819/hey-mr-mom-your-wife-wa…
Also, re-watched the episode on TiVo and now I'm not so sure that name Don wrote on the last page of The Sound and the Fury is "Roy." It may have been "Rory" or "Mary," though the first letter seemed more an "R" than anything else.
Thank you for sharing the links to all these wonderful photos. It's definitely my favorite architectural period. I own and live in a mid-century modern house. A dream come true. It doesn't look like the ones in the photos, but it's close!
Anyway, @jw: although this is way OT here, I don't think that was a name on the page he wrote the note on. After looking at it closely, it was a number: 1204 or 1604, the address. Why would he write down the name of someone he already knew he was going to see?
"Basketlurker"! I love it. You are your own lexicographer!
Yes, that was awesome. Thank you for sharing, Marie!
Way to hit one out of the park in your first at-bat Marie … love the pix.
House was way-cool in an of-course-MM-would-have-to-show-a-house-like-this sort of way. Thanks!
CSH 22 can be seen in detail in the movie "Corrina, Corrina".
Not sure that’s Case Study House 22, that one hangs off of a cliff in LA.
@ #10 Anonymous:
I think you're right. Koenig's CSH #22 sits atop the Hollywood Hills, and overlooks the city of Los Angeles. Phil Abrams said they actually went to Palm Springs for the scenes with Don and the jaded aristocrats. I'm thinking the house in Mad Men was one of Neutra's designs — maybe Grace Miller's house, or the Kaufmann House, which was vacant and for sale at the time this episode was shot, and could have easily been used as a film location because of that…Or maybe not. Who knows?
In any case, here's a slide show of the Kaufmann house. As you can see, it has the pergola, patio, and the steps that lead to the pool. There are slight differences, but the set decorators may have embellished and added some elements so the house wasn't readily identifiable. We all know how Weiner likes to keep people guessing…
Hullaballoo, I was thinking Kaufman house too, but not sure without making the effort to really study it to compare. Really, it was up for sale? I'm surprised that the people who had restored it didn't keep it. I know that I sure would, if I could. Thanks for the link to the slide show! *drooool*
Some of those open-plan, glass-walled modern homes of that era are so similar because of their beautiful simplicity, if you can't get a long range view of the layout and architectural details it's sometimes difficult to tell them apart if there is no stand-out identifiable feature in the shot.
@ #13 Anonymous…
Why Anonymous? No one's gonna bite you here…unless, of course, that's what you want…Heh.
Any way, the house was auctioned off in May or June of this year, a casualty of divorce. I think it sold for A LOT of money — like several million dollars. Whoever bought and restored it received a lovely return on their investment. It is a beautiful property.
Aw, divorce…figures…very sad.
I saw a TV show on the the process of the restoration, and the couple's love for the house, going to great efforts to return it to its original intentions. The construction/architecture company they used were very savvy and also were in awe of having the opportunity to be the ones to bring it back to life.
Howdy– yes, here I am, the "BasketLurker." Once again, great comments from everyone. I have to say, I think the actual house probably was indeed the Kaufmann one in Palm Springs. Definitely still some influence of the Koenig photographs, which do seem to tell us that Don has entered the Hotel California, 1962 style.