The Donald Wexler Tour has 9 stops, from neighborhoods such as the Alexander Steel Houses to condo developments such as Royal Hawaiian Estates to civic projects including the Palm Springs airport and finally the historic Dinah Shore Residence.
Donald Wexler was born in 1926 in South Dakota and graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1950 after serving in the Navy during World War II. Thereafter, he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked for architect Richard Neutra and subsequently moved to Palm Springs to work for William Cody on Tamarisk Country Club. In 1952, Wexler, along with Richard Harrison, a colleague from Cody’s firm, set up their own offices as Wexler & Harrison. That partnership dissolved amicably in 1961, and Wexler formed Donald A. Wexler Associates in 1963.
During their partnership, Wexler & Harrison designed many school buildings using new approaches to steel-frame construction. In 1960, the George Alexander Construction Company contracted Wexler & Harrison to design an innovative neighborhood of all-steel homes at the northern edge of Palm Springs, which became some of Wexler’s most significant work. Due to the rising costs of steel, the project was halted after just seven homes were built. These innovative, factory-fabricated, site-assembled steel houses combined prefabricated components with standard construction methodology and are now internationally acclaimed. The extant seven Alexander Steel Houses have been instrumental in revitalizing a once long-forgotten neighborhood and have been designated Palm Springs Class 1 Historic Sites.
Other Wexler projects include the Spa Hotel Bathhouse (1958), Royal Hawaiian Estates (1960), Union 76 Gas Station (1962, demolished), Palm Springs Medical Clinic (1963), Canyon Country Club (1963), Dinah Shore Residence (1964), Palm Springs International Airport (1965), Desert Water Agency (1978), Bank of Palm Springs (1982), and Hope Square Professional Building (Rancho Mirage, 1985), as well as many more commercial, institutional, and public buildings.
Wexler was awarded the Palm Springs Modern Committee Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. In 2009, the documentary “Journeyman Architect: The Life and Work of Donald Wexler” was released; and in 2011, Palm Springs Art Museum launched an extensive exhibition on Wexler’s work titled “Steel and Shade: The Architecture of Donald Wexler.”
Dinah Shore Residence
1964
Defining features of this ultra-stylish home include the commanding diagonal elevation and unique marriage of materials where rugged adobe bricks meet sleek, midcentury design. Commissioned with architect Donald Wexler in 1964 by actress/singer Dinah Shore and then-husband Maurice Smith, the residence is approached via a gracious covered promenade. The walkway expresses an inviting sense of arrival graced by distinctive spider-leg beams, an apparent nod to Richard Neutra, for whom Wexler worked two decades earlier (tubular metal spider-leg beams are emblematic of Neutra’s body of work). As found in sites throughout the city, what is seen from the front belies what you get. From an initial sense of privacy, the home inside unfolds in a series of linear planes and glass walls open to majestic mountain views and a lawn and garden full of architectural amenities: pool and pool house, gazebo and gym, tennis court, etc.
FUN FACT
Curiously, the famous entertainer who commissioned the home owned it only briefly. It has, however, had several owners related to the entertainment industry, including famed Broadway composer and lyricist Jerry Herman, and one of the originators of popular television programs such as Wings, Cheers, and Frasier.
Wexler Residence
1955
The Wexler Residence resulted from necessity with a baby on the way for the young architect Donald Wexler and his wife. Seemingly influenced from his work with Richard Neutra, the less than 1,500 square foot, post-and-beam house began as a small pinwheel of flat-roofed sections reaching in perpendicular directions from the center to outer zones and into the gardens. At about $10 per square foot and completed in just a few months, the stylish house served family needs and showcased Wexler’s talent and proficiency. Note the use of basic materials, such as the exposed thin double roof beams, discerningly applied in a manner suggesting a much grander, elaborate home. As the family grew, Wexler designed a three-bedroom children’s wing, changing the footprint of the house but not its essence. Eventually a widower, Wexler lived in the house until 1991.
Restorations by later owners have reinvented the small property (2008 remodel by 02 Architects), yet it remains a statement in excellent design.
FUN FACT
The broad shallow-pan end of the Wexler-designed rectangular swimming pool has served several generations – first as a wading pool for toddlers, then as an in-water deck for chaise lounges.
Alexander Steel Houses
1960-62
Neighborhood of seven houses on East Molino Road and North Sunnyview Drive. Designated Class 1 Historic Sites by the City of Palm Springs (all seven) and listed in the National Register of Historic Places (3125 N. Sunny View Drive). Responding to the housing needs of a booming American middle class, trendsetting innovations in light-gauge steel construction were conceived by architects Donald Wexler and Richard Harrison in conjunction with structural engineer Bernie Perlin of Calcor Corporation. Their seven Steel Development Houses were built in 1960-62 by Palm Springs prolific father/son developers and builders, The George Alexander Construction Company. Walls of glass give way to expansive floor-to-ceiling garden and mountain views, making the 1,400-square-foot homes seem much larger. Originally sold for about $14,000, they offered an ingenious all-steel building system that integrated a 9×36-foot prefabricated central unit with standard building methods in houses that could be assembled in mere days following the curing of the concrete slab. The seven homes were the beginnings of a subdivision planned to include about 40 homes, but the development was side-tracked when increases in steel prices made the construction costs of the subdivision prohibitive. The only structures of this type ever built.
FUN FACT
Of Don Wexler, former Architectural Record magazine Editor-in- Chief Robert Ivy wrote, “The origins of American modernism are found in Los Angeles in the work of R.M. Schindler and R. Neutra and in Palm Springs in the homes by Donald Wexler.” Palm Springs Art Museum mounted an exhibition of Wexler s work in 2011, in which the architect, then 84 years old, actively participated. It is also worth noting that three of seven houses have undergone restoration and/or remodels.
El Rancho Vista Estates
1960
Neighborhood bound by N. Gene Autry Tr., E. Visa Chino, E. Chia Road and Via Roberto Miguel (enter on Vista Chino). George and Robert Alexander weren’t the only builders and developers flourishing in midcentury Palm Springs. Jack Meiselman and Roy Fey were among others creating small empires, keeping up with the housing needs of a booming population. This appealing subdivision of less than 100 post-and-beam homes not only included a street named after its proud developer (a trend seen nationwide), but also became home to one of its architects: Ric Harrison. It also attracted celebrity residents; fitness guru Jack LaLanne was a neighbor. With elements seen in later residential work by Harrison, this tract of homes encompasses a variety of sensible open plans that are private from the street but open to yards, secluded gardens, pools, and mountain views. In a mixture of flat roofs, butterfly roofs, and roofs finished in vertical eaves, the neighborhood provides a delight of images, showing many characteristics popular in the eras architecture: decorative concrete block, walls of glass, open carports, clerestory windows, and desert landscaping.
FUN FACT
Avenida Fey Norte is the street name the developer gave to pay homage to the successful concepts he was helping proliferate. In cities and suburbs throughout the country, buildings and streets with odd names like The Rob-Mar or The Mary-Wil typically honored family members of the builder.
Ellerman Medical Building
1969
Comparatively, Donald Wexler’s career included the widest range of project categories. Many may remark on the innovations in light gauge steel frame construction he incorporated into schools for which he is particularly recognized. Others mention the residential work: the internationally noted Steel Houses; glamorous custom and celebrity homes; or stylish, innovative tract houses and condominiums. Then again, that downtown gasoline station (demolished) was quite something, not to mention the plethora of civic, retail, and commercial projects. Did someone point out California’s first commercial (office) condominiums or shopping centers and banks? And, oh yes, the impressive international airport? In this definitive but unassuming medical center, we find inviting, simple structural forms that gently wrap around an inviting office plaza in a garden setting.
FUN FACT
For more Wexler, head south on Civic Drive to the police department and jail (1983) on the left. Fortress-like but beautifully textured exterior walls surround interiors well lit from walls and bridges of glass; safe, underground levels (including the jail); and deep subterranean open-air atriums – a pleasant respite from the harsh work than can transpire here.
Professional Park
1960-64
This first office condominium in California, this flat-roofed complex reaffirms Donald Wexler’s days in Richard Neutra’s office. Behind a small stand of towering eucalyptus trees, we are drawn to the serenity of a gently scaled composite of buildings. With a different color on each, every unit has a single section of colored two-inch mosaic tiles in a range of softly hued pastels. From wide garden paths, offices enter from out-of-doors into well-lighted functional cubes of modest but ample size. Aptly named (note the original sign), the offices have served a variety of professional purposes, including space for Wexler’s firm. Cantilevered roofs sufficiently screen the amount of sun allowed in. At night, lighting imbedded in the deep western overhangs casts softly, never relinquishing the serene ambiance.
FUN FACT
Professional Park funders included some of Wexler’s favorite clients, such as actress Dinah Shore.
Palm Springs International Airport
1965
Designated Class 1 Historic Site by the City of Palm Springs (façade only). Additions by Gensler Associates, 1990. The technicalities in designing airports are monumental and ever changing. Here, 1960s design serves the 21st century with few changes, but additions and updates. Facing west, the glass and sculptural beam terminal is essentially two broadly angled wings that capture the mountain views in the distance, placing visitors immediately on arrival directly into the comforting desert environment. Around the late 1980s, a tented addition at back (Gensler Associates) functions very well, but is little admired by critics… (or Wexler) for its “top-hat” intrusion onto the original architecture. An aerial view illustrates the open and excellent plan and functionality of the airport. Wedge-shaped, the lengthy building seems like a scissors or, more aptly, wings. Driving up to it even suggests a sense of “flight in architecture.” Not surprisingly, an East Coast visitor who flies her own plane compliments Wexler with, “It’s the most beautiful airport in the country to land a small aircraft.”
FUN FACT
The 1968 fountain in front of the airport designed by eminent Guadalajara, Mexico, architect and educator Julio de la Peña is made of 398 hand-cut pieces of cantera stone.
Royal Hawaiian Estates
1960
Designated Class 1 Historic Site by the City of Palm Springs. Comprised of 40 homes, this completely intact island-inspired condominium community was designed in 1960 by Donald Wexler and Richard Harrison. The village atmosphere embodies romantic ideals brought back from Polynesian regions by the Armed Forces who served in them during World War II. Here, a comfortable sense of tropical living is combined with the contemporary conveniences of American midcentury modern design. An island atmosphere prevails throughout in carved Tikis; lush gardens; and exaggerated, stylized triangular forms called “Flying Sevens” found at the end of lofty beams. Emulating a sailing ship’s riggings, these seafaring apexes on the buildings are clever identifying features. Each home on the compactly arranged five acres includes a garden entrance, vaulted ceilings, natural lighting through glass sliders and generous clerestory windows, and ample private patios or atriums facing the common areas and views.
FUN FACT
Prior to establishing their partnership, Wexler and Harrison came to the desert to work for William Cody on Tamarisk County Club and L’Horizon Hotel, respectively.
