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!

A 10 Second Hollywood History in Palm Springs: American Gigolo Version

American Gigolo was on the other night and lo and behold I had forgotten about this pivotal (and dark) scene that takes place in the Canyon Club area of Palm Springs

Richard Gere's character Julian Kaye drives to Palm Springs as a favor to service the client of a pimp/friend.

Here is the mid-century home as it appears in the film with the Julian Kaye character driving up in his Mercedes 450 SL.

And how it looks today:

The front has obviously been rearranged. A lawn was put in, as well as the driveway being moved to the left. The Canyon Country Club has some incredibly beautiful and tasteful homes and most were preserved to their original mid-century design. 

Now I'm a little obsessed to see the inside!

Road Trip!

Hello Tucson!  

I love going on Road trips, and one of the easiest and swiftest is from 

Palm Springs to Tucson, Arizona 

The city has some incredible and pedigreed mid-century homes, as well as important buildings that are steeped in historical signifigance.

and

I would be remiss not to mention the NEON!

Do you see this great neon?! 

These are along the historic Miracle Mile. Click here for more info on their preservation 

efforts + organized walks through the area

Isn't this terrific? 

More info here on Tucson's Mid Century Scene

If you ever find yourself in Tucson, do set aside some time to take tours and learn about their incredible mid-century history. 

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!) 

Modernism Week Wrap Up Part 3: Vintage Trailer Show!

The Modernism Week Vintage Trailer Show had an incredible turnout this year!

The Event had 34 trailers in addition to my home, The Silver Suitcase™ which I relocated  to the Hilton Hotel Parking lot for the event.

If you've ever been, you know Vintage Trailer People are really fun! If you ever run into someone that owns one of these, I guarantee a good time. These are the happiest people I know.

There's just something about owning a home on wheels that demands joy!

Enjoy the pics!

Thank you to Cliff Uyeda for the wonderful pictures! cliff@uyeda.net

The Entry Way to all things Vintage Trailer!

Scooter + Trailers? Don't mind if I do!

Glam Traveling, Trailer Style!

Yellow: The PERFECT Palm Springs Color!

Two Tones!

(See? Yellow, again!) 

Look a little closer...

See...

The Dog Trailer! HA!

Al Fresco dining, anyone? 

Love the area rug!

Lounging...

Dreamy, right?

photo courtesy of Gregg Felson NBC 4 NEWS

If you missed the show this year, do try and make it in 2015. NBC Channel 4 in LA said it's worth the trip!

Otherwise, you can see more pics on the Palm Springs Modernism Week Vintage Trailer FB Page or on my other blog about living in my airstream!

Modernism Week Wrap up Part 2: Brise Soleil? Did someone say Brise Soleil??

The Desert Sun did an 11-Part mini web series titled "Modern Love" on Mid-Century Architecture for Modernism Week, and asked me to participate. I ended up doing four of these really fun, stylish, super short 00:59 (!) second videos.

Here is one where I discuss Brise Soleil  (Broken Sun)  the "fragmented" walls that are an architectural detail, but also provide functionality.

Example of Brise Soleil

Me in mid-desciption. Glad my jacket + shirt work, but in this screen grab, it looks like I have a little black eye! 

Bravo to Marilyn Chung who did the videos - they're stylish, informative, short, to the point, have fun music, and I had a great time doing them! And a big thank you to Lyn Lieu for the great write up!

Quick Check-In from the Modernism Week Vintage Trailer Show + Mid-Century Yard Sale Tomorrow!

Great Day today at the Vintage Trailer Show!

My Silver Suitcase™ at the Vintage Trailer Show!

Tomorrow is part 2 of the show 10-3

AND

The Mid Century Yard Sale starts at 8:00AM SHARP!

(Photo Booth! Free Donuts!) 

Details for Both Events Below:

Mid Century Yard Sale

Paul Kaplan Group Parking Lot

1701 N Palm Canyon Drive

Palm Springs, CA 92262

Sunday Feb 23rd 8am-12pm

Modernism Week Vintage Trailer Show 

Hilton Hotel Parking Lot

400 East Tahquitz Canyon

Palm Springs, CA 92262

Sunday Feb 23rd 10am-3pm

Mid-Century Home on Alejo newly listed, just in time for Palm Springs Modernism Week!

What's better than Modernism week which begins tonight?

Getting a listing for an incredible storied mid-century home with a glamorous Palm Springs back story!

1080 East Alejo Road Pool with hot tub and fire pits

This pedigreed home was custom built in 1951 by Paul Summers and Caroline Birge  (Hicks) the owners of the Ingleside Inn (home to Melvyn's!)  The Ingleside Inn has and continues to be a wonderfully oasis of Palm Springs Chic that will never go out of style. Martinis, Oysters Rockefeller, a Tuxedo Wearing Maître d', live music most nights, movie stars over the years who have called it home away from home, a glamorous pool with sexy bungalows - what's not to love?

The home remained in their ownership until 2003.The new owners took great care and respect  bringing all aspects up to date.

Located in the chic neighborhood of the Movie Colony and a few doors down from The Frank Sinatra Estate Twin Palms, the home is centrally located while preserving a compound feel.
Coming in at  little under 2500 square feet, on a little more than half an acre,  this spacious 3 bedroom 3 bathroom home offers state of the art modern amenities.

Some of the features are: vaulted ceilings, flagstone fireplace, gourmet kitchen, and walls of glass are a few of the magnificent attributes of this special property. Outside is a beautifully landscaped backyard with a swimming pool surrounded by 3 fire pits set against the dramatic backdrop of the mountains.

Apparently, we weren't the only ones who felt this way!  Today, The Desert Sun did a loving write up in honor of this special house!

Here's a walk through video of the home

Questions on this property? Give a ring 760-969-2270 or mrmodps@gmail.com

Questions on why to buy in Palm Springs? click here!

New Listing, Indian Wells Country Club, $749,000

Bright Fun Resort-style midcentury home in prestigious Indian Wells Country Club. This house has many special features, among them being a view of four fairways and a second kitchen for party preparations or caterers. This 3 bedroom, 3 bath home features designer wall coverings and mirrors throughout maximize lighting. High clerestory windows in the entry hall lead to a living room (with fireplace!) that overlooks the Regency pool and golf course and mountain views. You'll enjoy waking up in the master bedroom with the same fantastic views.

Palm Springs Modern Committee Fall Home Tour 2013

I spent part of Saturday touring homes for PSmodcom's Fall tour, with such homes as 1961 by Home Lab, the new Dee Residence in Rancho Mirage by architect Lance O'Donnell of o2 Architecture, and a recent renovation of a rear patio unit at The Ocotillo Lodge, which was designed by Palmer and Krisel and built by the Alexanders (one of my favorite condo complexes, there are plaques with celebrity names on the doors, harking back to when it was a favorite weekend haunt of celebrities).  This one had a "Dinah Shore" in gold on the door.  The Estrella Swim club house in Indian Canyons was a crowd-pleaser.

Jim Jennings House, Deepwell, Palm Springs

I went to the unveiling of the Jim Jennings-designed and Blue Sky Homes-material sourced materials home in Deepwell.  The party was thrown by Palm Springs Modern Committee, and really was a chic home- I was really impressed by the delicate details of the home's design- particularly the lacy perforated ceiling finish, which directs AC air through it entirely, rather than through single vents.  The house picks up right where the Wexler/Harrison Steel houses left off, and expands entirely.  The vertical steel walls around the courtyard look so much like the steel guest houses from the Alexander's Twin Palms development.  Very cool concept.  The house is listed for sale at $1.3 million, which is breathtaking in itself.  Can't wait to see it sell.

Pompeii De Las Palmas: Palm Springs Pied-à-terre

Italianate Regency Midcentury

Enjoy Your Last Days In Pompeii

You don't have to be at the foot of Mount Vesuvius to have a smoking hot time- check out Pompeii De Las Palmas!  This is a short sale, will be listed at $160,000, but sure to go over asking price.  To see the prior listing from a few years back, click HERE.

Like its sister property, Villa Roma at the South end of Palm Springs, this was also built in 1966.  There is a very Caesar's Palace colonnade around the swimming pool with a magnificent view of the mountains from Old Las Palmas.  This is a one bedroom, two bath condo, approx 850 sq. ft.  There are only nine units in this complex on West Stevens Road.  HOAS are $275.00 monthly.

To schedule a showing (will be a one-day, blue-light special event), call Matthew @ The Paul Kaplan Group at 760-969-2278