Home of Max Palevsky Included in Modapalooza
Monday, February 19, 2024
PALM SPRINGS, CA: Rarely on view for public touring, the Craig Ellwood-designed Modernist home of art collector and business titan Max Palevsky (1924-2010) will be open for tours and a cocktail party as part of Modapalooza. Benefitting USModernist®, America’s largest open resource for Modernist architecture, the Palevsky tour is just one of the Modapalooza events occurring February 17-22, 2024.
Palevsky House Tours and Sunset Cocktail Party
Tours: Monday, February 19th, 10:00 am-4:00 pm, every 40 minutes
Sunset Cocktail Party: Monday, February 19th, 4:30-6:30 pm
Craig Ellwood designed this 1971 house for Max Palevsky in Palm Springs, having designed Palevsky’s Fifth Avenue apartment at New York’s Sherry-Netherland Building (1960) as well as the headquarters for his business Scientific Data Systems in El Segundo, CA (1966). Inspired by a trip to Morocco that the Ellwoods and Palevskys took together, the main and guest houses offer Palevsky’s desired privacy behind whitewashed walls.
In addition to being a venture capitalist, philanthropist, and computer technology pioneer, Palevsky was a formidable art collector of wide tastes. His holdings ranged from Pop Art to Arts & Crafts objects. The Palm Springs house is still owned by the family today, and select pieces by Alexander Calder and Roy Lichtenstein, among others, can still be seen. Ellwood’s daughter Erin, who is working on a documentary about her father’s life and career, will be a special guest at the Sunset Cocktail Party.
Additional Modapalooza Events:
Kirk and Anne Douglas House
Tours: Sunday, February 18th, 10:00 am-4:00 pm, every 40 minutes
Sunset Cocktail Party: Wednesday, February 21st, 5:00-7:00 pm
Designed by Donald Wexler, FAIA, and Richard Harrison in 1954, in the Old Las Palmas neighborhood of Palm Springs, this 4,000-square-foot home was a vacation spot for the famed actor Kirk Douglas, his wife Anne, and their family until 1999. The home was purchased and renovated by Diane Bald, an architect and design director of Roots, which she and husband Michael Budman co-founded. Behind stone walls and gates, the main house has beamed ceilings, Saltillo tile floors, and flagstone-lined foyer. Outdoors, intricately landscaped grounds include various patios, garden atrium, saltwater swimming pool, and a tennis court that backs up to what was once Dinah Shore’s house, and which is now Leonardo DiCaprio’s. At the Sunset Cocktail Party, special guests include prolific architecture documentary filmmaker Jake Gorst and the Purple Room’s jazz singer Rose Mallett.
The Christopher Kennedy Forever Home
Tours: Thursday, February 22nd, 10:00 am-4:00 pm, every 40 minutes
Sunset Cocktail Party: Thursday, February 22nd, 4:30-6:00 pm
Interior designer Christopher Kennedy purchased this 3,160-square-foot home in 2020 and embarked on a full remodel. He’s known for completely transforming Palm Springs houses, bringing them back to their original Midcentury Modern glory with sustainable materials. He’s done that with his own house originally built in 1978 that’s situated on a golf course in the historic Indian Canyons neighborhood. Guests at the Sunset Cocktail Party will meet Kennedy, who is the author of two design books: California Modern (Fashion + Décor, 2015) and Making Midcentury Modern (Gibbs Smith, 2017).
Shaken vs. Stirred: Martini Classes with The Martini Whisperer, Phillip Jones
Saturday-Monday, February 17th to 19th
Skylark Hotel, 1466 North Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs
Originally constructed in 1955, the Skylark Hotel Palm Springs has been meticulously restored to nuance the style and character of the Midcentury Modern era. Ninety-minute group classes by martini expert Phillip Jones, who travels all the way from Australia’s capital, Canberra, will be fun and full of spirit(s). Classes are sponsored by Vermont Spirits, makers of gin, vodka, and bourbon.
Get tickets and additional information: https://usmodernist.org/modapalooza.htm
About USModernist
USModernist® is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization that provides documentation for nearly every iconic Modernist house in America with the mission to educate the public to preserve Modernism. USModernist Radio—hosted by the organization’s founder, George Smart, Hon. AIA, along with co-host Tom Guild—engages worldwide architects, historians, and architectural patrons in lively conversation. USModernist Library, the world’s largest open searchable digital collection of major US 20th-century architecture magazines, is a priceless resource containing more than 4 million downloadable pages from publications dating from 1890 to the present.
