My Home The Silver Suitcase (+me!) in The New York Times!

I just returned from a most enjoyable holiday in the lovely, beautiful British Columbia - which I will post about.
Have you been?
If not, I can't recommend it enough. Between the beautiful landscaping Mother Nature has done, and the architectural gems found along the way (as well as some really wonderful cultural surprises) and of course the lovely, lovely gracious people!)

Returning to Palm Springs rested and happy, I came home to the most delightful Welcome Home gift, ever.

Me and my home, The Silver Suitcase made it to the big time! 

THE NEW YORK TIMES!!

WOOT WOOT!

Nancy Baron, photographer + Documentarian extraordinaire featured us in her new book titled: "Palm Springs: The Good Life"

If that wasn't enough love, this past weekend she penned a piece for the New York Times about her beloved part-time residence and her new book.

Lo and behold this was one of the photos featured:

  

photo courtesy of Nancy Baron/New York Times

I love that this was simply titled:

"Matthew" 

Welcome Home, indeed!

The Paul Kaplan Group: We're Not Just Agents.

Even though the season is slowly winding down. things have been busy as if it were January it seems.

 When not showing houses, or stuffing our faces with cherry pie at staff meetings, we at The Paul Kaplan Group like to do a little side gig called:

MODELING.

Yup. 

We modeled in the Deja Vu Vintage Shop Tiki Fashion Show at The Purple Room 

Agent extraordinaire Chris AKA Modern Bear strutting his stuff. 

Apres Fashion Show Backstage

Me and Chris.

We are all available for print, catalogue, bathing suits, and catwalks. All rates negotiable. 

Cherry Pie, Earth WInd & Fire, John Lautner: And How Was Your Week?

Usually around this time of year, things start slowing down: the snow birds start packing up and heading back east (or to Canada); the frenzy of the weekends come to a manageable pace.

Not this year though; this week has been busy, busy, busy -- it seemed that people had forgotten to buy their houses before the season ended, and the week was spent running around quickly negotiating deals, handling inspections, and signing closing papers.

Much needed Pie Buffet at the 10:00am Paul Kaplan weekly staff meeting

Pie really makes any meeting all the better. I can't recommend it enough. 

Pie is the nectar of the Gods. 

 Later in the week, a few of us from the office headed out to Desert Hot Springs

for a work/play outing 

at 

The Hotel Lautner !

HUGE thanks for the invite by Interior Designer Tracy Breckmann and Art Bar Curator/Artist Danny Heller for a looksy and some cocktails.  

Making our way to Desert Hot Springs

The buildings were designed by the iconic Architect John Lautner in 1947

I encourage you to read the rich history on this historical hotel HERE

 Over the years, it changed hands, and in 2008, was saved and brought back to its much deserved glory by Interior Designer Tracy Breckmann and 

furniture designer Ryan Trowbridge. 

They spent 3 1/2 years meticulously restoring the property. 

Thanks to our hosts Tracy and Danny for a great time!!

This is a "must stay at" on the Desert List!

#TGIF:

Friday Night was a #TBF when some friends and I went out to Indio to see 

the GREAT

Earth, WInd & Fire!!!

Here are their  TOUR DATES.

GO SEE THEM. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.

THIS IS GUARANTEED FUN. 

If you do not have fun, you might want to see a therapist -- because that means there's something very wrong with you. 

The friends that I saw Earth, Wind, & Fire with own a clothing line called

 Ruffskin which have shops in the U.S. and one in Amsterdam. 

Last year, they shot one of their campaigns on my newly purchased wagon. Honestly, I had forgotten all about it until Friday night when they showed me the souvenir postcards that are placed in their shops for customers to take home.

Behold:

Note: the Washington Plates are still on.

Who knew a wagon could be sexy like this?! 

And to finish this crazy week, last night was dinner at my favorite 

Old School Palm Springs Restaurant: Lyons English Grille 

Here's Victor of Lyons Grille singing on the the last night of the season. 

Note Buckingham Palace Guard and Princess Diana in the background...

Bye Victor, have a great summer! 

I'm already looking forward to opening night next season!

Palm Springs Realtor Tip # 254:

Dress to match your listings. 

My listing in Indian Wells Country Club which will open escrow Monday! 

#sunshine #palmsprings #YellowisWorkingForMeTheseDays

A Serious Look at Palm Springs Real Estate

One-third of The Paul Kaplan Group  captured at the Palm Springs Real Estate Association 

Anniversary Party.

You know, another ho-hum night out. 

The Boss Man Paul Kaplan, Samantha, and Simon

In case you didn't realize, I'm in the silver jacket.

More Greetings from Coachella!!!

Do you see the astronaut behind us??!!

(Astronaut by artist Phillip K. Smith)

Me with the BOSS MAN Paul Kaplan

Don't forget, you can watch the Coachella livestream HERE

HOLLYWOOD IN PALM SPRINGS EDITION: Are the "Who's Who" of Hollywood Fueling Home Prices??

The Hollywood Reporter devoted a section on Palm Springs in their March 14 Magazine Edition. In the various pieces, Hollywood Heavy Hitters were asked to weigh in on Palm Springs living.

One piece that jumped out (of course) is a view of the Palm Springs Real Estate Market; and because it's the Hollywood Reporter, there's a lot of name checking and bold faced names of who live/have homes here; in addition, the article discusses the price surge in mid-century homes, with an angle on Hollywood's "elite" pushing the prices up.

Are mid-century homes selling? Absolutely - for instance, just last week, we had a listing for $1.2M that sold within 6 days of being on the market.

Are there still bargains to be had? Yes. Are they becoming fewer and farther between? Yes.

Is it the Hollywood Elite pushing prices up? I think the better question is:  Have we seen a younger set of Hollywood/Start Up/Creatives from LA, SF, Seattle, London + NYC recently?
Oh, YES. Absolutely.

Listen, the Hollywood Stars and the power players have been coming here since the 1920's. That is not going to change any time soon. They in turn attract others, and so on and so forth.

The Reporter also did a nice profile on Suzanne Somers 73 acre compound which, by the way, is A REAL honest to God compound complete with hiking trails, and trolley.  Major bonus points for the Albert Frey designed guest house! If you have some extra cash laying about, I suggest you look into it.

On the opposite end of the Real Estate spectrum, the Reporter looked at the Who's Who of Hollywood who live in Big Horn Golf Club.

Big Horn photo courtesy of BigHornGolf.com

Big Horn is everything mid-century is not. (Love your movies, Mr Weintraub!)

The magazine looked at new restaurants in the area cloaked under the guise of where to eat during Coachella.

Seriously? Have they ever been to Coachella? Dining out is truly the last thing on your mind. Between seeing the bands, the parties and travel time, who has time to eat? Don't get me wrong - keep the list, because it's a great one. Just an ambitious goal on the weekends of Coachella.

Speaking of dining out and drinking, The Reporter did a piece on the Hollywood regulars and where they like to eat and what to do - a nicely compiled list, though it can't compete with my list of Palm Springs old school eating and drinking spots that I did in my Welcome Wagon Letter to Leonardo DiCaprio. :) The Hollywood Reporter's list is great - keep it bookmarked, along with mine.

The article gave a nice shout out to Wil Stiles Shop which I love  and in a different piece  they talk about the the Grand Dame of Palm Springs Style,Trina Turk.

Photo of Trina Turk Courtesy of LA Times

Trina has been the unofficial ambassador of Palm Springs for over 20 years. Her original shops on Palm Canyon Drive are the epitome of Palm Springs Style. She has Mr Turk for the Men, Trina Turk for home and of course Trina Turk for women. You can never go wrong with Trina. Never.

Another shop is Deja Vu Vintage Finery  a must stop for vintage clothes at reasonable prices.  (Trina mentioned this shop as one of her favorites in her Reporter interview during Film Fest)

Photo Courtesy of Deja Vu Finery

Speaking of Style, some of my favorite Home Decor shops they missed (understandably so; otherwise, the article would be pages + pages long.)   

Modern Way in Palm Springs. Courtney will steer you right. And if he doesn't have the piece you desire, he will know how to get it. 

Hedge In Cathedral City for mid century furniture + home accoutrement. They have incredible finds, at really reasonable prices. Great fun shop.  

Colin FIsher Studios in Cathedral City has an eclectic mix of modern, abstract, figurative, and traditional paintings + sculptures. Curated beautifully.

And lastly, a nice write up on the latest hotels which have gone up/are going up including Hard Rock Hotel + Arrive Hotel.

The Hollywood Reporter's section on Palm Springs is a well thought out and well researched love letter to our wonderful town. Bravo!

Modernism Week Wrap Up Finale!

Everyone at The Paul Kaplan Group and myself are all still recovering from 2 weeks of whirlwind parties, open houses, vintage trailer shows, opening night receptions, fashion shows, desert lounge crawls, home tours, a curated "yard sale", a web series I took part in for The Desert Sun- not to mention the months that went into planning - and of course, we've already started coming up with new events for next year, which we're all really, really excited about.

If you didn't make it out to Palm Springs this year, definitely come out for Modernism Week 2015; I guarantee a great time.

The Week ended in a pretty spectacular way for me at the Modernism Week Vintage Trailer Show: 
My home, The Silver Suitcase™ was given the award for Best Modernism Trailer!

Pretty Snazzy, right? Woot! Woot!

(that's Mona, organizer extraordinaire of the Vintage Trailer show!)