Morgan Residence in Rancho Mirage

This romantic old West style home in Rancho Mirage was purchased in 1939 by Frank Morgan (1890-1949) who was born as Francis Phillip Wuppermann in New York City. His most famous performance was in The Wizard of Oz (1939), in which he played the carnival huckster "Professor Marvel", the gatekeeper of the Emerald City, the driver of the carriage drawn by "The Horse of a Different Color", the armed guard leading to the wizard's hall, and the Wizard himself. His first film was The Suspect in 1916. His career expanded when talkies began, his most stereotypical role being that of a befuddled but good-hearted middle-aged man. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1934's The Affairs of Cellini, where he played the cuckolded Duke of Florence and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1942's Tortilla Flat, where he played a simple Hispanic man. Like Margaret Hamilton's Wicked Witch of the West, his characters only appear onscreen for a few minutes in total, but they are show-stoppers. He was so popular that MGM gave him a lifetime contract.

Other movies of note include The Shop Around the Corner, The Human Comedy, The Mortal Storm, The White Cliffs of Dover and his last movie, Key to the City, which was released after his death, in Beverly Hills, California. Like most character actors of the studio era Frank Morgan had numerous roles in many motion pictures. One of his last roles was as a key supporting player in The Stratton Story, a true story about a ballplayer (played by James Stewart) who makes a comeback after losing a leg in a hunting accident.

Morgan married Alma Muller in 1914; they had one son. Morgan died after suffering a heart attack in 1949 while filming Annie Get Your Gun. His widow, Alma still resided here as late as 1953. He was the one major player from The Wizard of Oz who did not live to see the film become both a television fixture and an American institution. He was buried in Green Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1708 Vine Street.

Grey Gardens in Palm Springs?

I recently stumbled onto this forlorn estate that is surrounded by numerous abandoned-looking cars of some vintage. A little research uncovered the following:

"At the depth of the depression, [Wallace] Neff’s wealthy playboy client [Singer Sewing Company heir] Arthur K Bourne acquired a fine lot in Palm Springs, one of the few towns in the region which was still booming. It was becoming popular with the film colony and with Pasadena socialites wealthy enough to be unaffected by bad times. The house the architect built on the property was an attempt to fuse the Mediterranean Revival with the modern style - to enjoy the best of both worlds.
The dwelling was disposed around three sides of a patio, with a swimming pool at the center. Most of Neff’s swimming pools up to that time had been in Beverly Hills, and they had usually been well removed from the house. But the central location was appropriate since this was a vacation retreat, but such a location was more characteristic of modern than Mediterranean Revival site planning. The modernity of the patio was diluted by making the bedroom wings identical and adding a circular ornamental fountain from which water spouted into the pool. Thus the place took on the air of an exotic North African desert oasis. Neff used almost a whole wall of sliding doors to make the living room an indoor-outdoor room in the modern manner and the simple, almost brutal, almost flat shed roofs had a modern look which was negated by the red tiles used as a covering material.
There was a separate wing for the servants rooms and kitchen on the north, while the two front doors were a reflection of the Bournes hospitality. The north door was for guests who might come and go without disturbing family members in the south wing. Neff grasped the possibilities of Palm Springs readily, as demonstrated by the inclusion of a small second story room and loggia. By climbing only one flight to this mirador, one can enjoy a view all over the valley. The house has had several owners, but has never been drastically altered."

-Alson Clark
Wallace Neff: Architect of California’s Golden Age

Perlin Residence - Los Angeles

The Steel Houses of Palm Springs are almost legendary. They are the work of architects Wexler & Harrison, with engineering provided by Bernie Perlin. What most people don't realize is that Wexler designed a house for Perlin that was built before the Palm Springs houses. The house is essentially unchanged, and still owned and occupied by Bernie Perlin. Mid-Century modernism...untouched. Wow!

Children's Discovery Museum - Rancho Mirage

Just driving along Gerald Ford Drive in Ranch Mirage when I discovered this wonderful building. It is rare to find architecture this good in the Coachella Valley. Thank you Children's Discovery Museum.

Araby Dude Ranch

This compound, on the south end of Araby Drive, is one of the best-kept secrets of old Palm Springs. I am told it was an early Dude Ranch, possibly from the 1920s. It is a cluster of deteriorating buildings that included a couple of residences, a corral and stable, and a swimming pool surrounded by low walls. All are made of stone. Nearly abandoned, and occasionbally guarded by an eccentric (and a little scary) gentleman on a bicycle, the place exudes great charm...and the mystery of an architectural dig. Hope somebody pays attention to this place before it disappears entirely,

Remuddeling...

I ran across this remodeled Alexander the other day; what were they thinking....?

Palm Springs Golf Club Clubhouse

I'm beginning to prepare for a lecture at the Palm Springs Art Museum in February as part of the Architecture 101 Series. It will feature the work of architect Hugh Kaptur. My good friend Robert Imber who gives guided tours of Palm Springs architecture guided me to a number of Kaptur works that I was unfamiliar with, including this building. It has some really beautiful elements, but would benefit from some restoration. It was done while Kaptur was in partnership with Richard Ricciardi, the architet of the Gas Company Building, shown earlier.