These midcentury modern houses are by the famed Los Angeles architectural firm Palmer & Krisel, which has built a phenomenal number of iconic houses in this style in California and Nevada. (See House of Tomorrow, for example.) And Bill Krisel is still working today! Of the photos below, the house directly below is new; the rest are truly midcentury. Above is a bungalow in the Las Palmas neighborhood of Palm Springs, “just a couple of doors down from the Lawford-Kennedy house where legend has it that Jack had a tryst with Marilyn.” All these photos are all by Darren, aka Chimay Bleue on Flickr, who introduced me to this architect and many others.
Below is Darren’s own Palmer & Krisel house in San Diego. It was designed in 1960 by Bill Krisel, who’s been back to visit it many times and must be very happy with the way it’s been preserved. (By the way, that’s Bill’s wife Corinne in the photo above, and that’s him, at bottom, in Darren’s house.) Darren and Elise renovated their Krisel house a few years ago, very beautifully as you can see. The before and after shots are particularly fun to look at – I could include only a few of Darren’s photos but there are many more here. Darren and Elise deserve a lot of credit for not demolishing this spacious bungalow, something Darren says is happening more and more often in San Diego and beyond. Such a waste. Of Bill Krisel, Darren says “Bill is probably one of the most creative and interesting people I’ve ever had the pleasure to know. He is very funny and warm and considerate. And his passion, skill, and talent in the field are truly amazing. He clearly needs to be better recognized for his accomplishments, as one of the first of only a few architects who understood how to truly realize the dream of making modernism accessible to everyday people, and successfully working with merchant builders to implement his designs in a very cost-effective way without sacrificing good design. I think he may be the most prolific architect ever, when you consider the total number of homes he’s designed in his life (nearly 40,000 single family homes).” Thanks to Darren for all of these photos! More in the Palmer Krisel Flickr group here.
Thanks for the post. I wasn’t familiar with Krisel’s work in San Diego. Here’s an example of a Palmer and Krisel redone in Palm Springs in Racquet Club Road Estates:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAsO5YkAKEI