Saturday, January 26, 2008

Desert Hot Springs PreFabulosity

SELLERS: Leo Marmol and Alisa Becket
LOCATION: McCarger Road, Desert Hot Springs, CA
PRICE: $1,850,000
SIZE: 2,100 square feet interior space (approx.), 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: According to the newish, well informed, and gaining speed LA based blog Real Sedated (via Mister Peter Viles at the LA Times), another piece of Coachella Valley architectural splendiferousness has come the real estate market. Leo Marmol, partner of starchitectural firm Marmol Radziner, and his wifey Alisa Becket have put their sleek, sexy and solar powered pre-fabulous Desert Hot Springs getaway on the market for $1,850,000, which is a lot of damn money for a house in dumpy but increasingly desirable Desert Hot Springs. But children, just look at what you get for just under two million of your hard earned clams.

Of course, not everyone will appreciate the look and emotional feel of a pre-fab and factory built collection of minimal-ish boxes sited on a dirt road looking over the scrubby desert towards the dramatically craggy San Jacinto Mountains. But Your Mama does. Oh yes children, we would happily sell half of you snot nosed bitches into prostitution for this house, even if it is in Desert Hot Springs.

Sitting on five acres of desert dryness 10 or so miles north of Palm Springs, Mister Marmol and Miz Becket (herself a scion of a noted architect), practiced what they preached out there in the desert. The art and design oriented couple utilized a system of factory built, pre-fabricated modules designed by Marmol Radziner Prefab to create a visually stunning and aggressively contemporary prototype perfect for people with a little bit of money who prefer not to live in a cape, a colonial or a crappy and characterless tract house.

With 2,100 square feet (approx.) of interior space and roughly 2,400 square feet of exterior space, the house wraps around a central courtyard and forms a sort of new-fangled and high class campground. There are three bedrooms and 2 bathrooms in the main section of the compound and a guest wing and separate studio space are accessed via a long, outdoor covered walkway, perfect for fashionista friends who like to pretend they're working the catwalks in Paris after a few pitchers of gin and tonics, and you know Your Mama has got a few friends like that.

As y'all know, the desert sun will cook you like a Thanksgiving turkey, so one and all can surely appreciate the generously sized covered decks that provide necessary shade and extend the somewhat modestly sized interior living space outdoors through sliding walls of floor to ceiling glass. Gigantic perforations in the facade act as windows framing long vistas over the desert.

Inside, Marmol Radziner have debunked the notion that prefab has to be anything but fabulous. The concrete floors are stained to match the color of the desert floor and the kitchen is deelishuslee wrapped in teak. Your Mama imagines this teak material is an upgrade that will cost future prefab buyers some serious scratch. But hunnies, it is worth whatever it cost. Imagine running your nekkid bahdee up against that wall while you're heating up a Lean Cuisine in the built in microwave.

Mister Viles reported that Mister Marmol and Miz Becket are selling off this house in order to build a new prefabricated residence for themselves in Venice. Venice, California that is. Their loss can be your gain children, so act quickly before some other design queen with a little bit of money snatches this property out from under you.

67 comments:

so_chic_darling said...

Fantastic,I love the clean modern lines,but that is too much money for a prefab in the desert teak or not.

Anonymous said...

I'm not the gushing type, far from it actually, but I love...and I mean LOVE this house. Everything about it. The design, execution, siting...everything. The design of the furniture reminds of Taliesin East in Wisconsin where Wright used plywood, yes plywood, for most of the furniture. And, just like Taliesin, this home looks like it belongs...just kind of organically grew from the soil. Just beautiful.

I tried to locate the house using Zillow and Yahoo maps but was unsuccessful. It does appear to be a bit remote for lack of a better word. Anyone familar with that area of Desert Hot Springs?

Mama, as always, thanks for what you do!

peace
Joel

Anonymous said...

This is where Fred and Wilma Flintstone would live if they were real people.

Anonymous said...

Btw, I can see it using msn maps. Here is the wink:
"http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?wip=2&v=2&style=r&rtp=~&&msnurl=home.aspx?%26redirect%3dfalse&msnculture=en-US#JmJiPTMzLjk0OTE2Mzg5Mjk4NzQlN2UtMTE2LjQ1MTEzMjczMTY1JTdlMzMuOTI5ODUwMzA1MDU3MiU3ZS0xMTYuNDgyMTY4OTg2MzY2"

Anonymous said...

i get the house, don't like, but i get it.
anon 8:09, zillow doesn't cover the moon realestate mkt.
the statement that this house is solar-powered falls into the "no-shit" category & it doesn't even have soalar panels and i'd be a cheap $2 whore if i was prostituted out so count me in.

Alessandra said...

While I love this house, there is not enough refreshing gin (or A/C) in the world to get me to live there from May through October.

Anonymous said...

I love this place. It's just simply stunning ... I doubt it would look as good on a bluff in Malibu or the hillsides of west L.A ... It needs the arid landscape for total impact. It's spectacular & just shows you don't need a large budget for great architecture, though of course the price of land determines this.

Anonymous said...

I wanna live here.

I wanna live here so before dawn my big-cocked bf can get up, complete with bed head, take a leak and then amble back and fuck me as the sun comes up and the coyotes scamper back to their dens.

Now i just need a million clams and the b.c. boyfriend with bedhead.

A fella can dream, right?

This house makes the case for pre-fab in a serious way. It feels likes there is more room for uniqueness and customizing with these things than there are in any of the tract monstrosities or banalaties that dot the landscape.

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous, sleek, and sexy yes - love it, and can't help but think what a difference the modest increase in ceiling hight makes in terms of visually pleasing interiors spaces compared to the Aaron Sorkin house.

Respectfully kc, your comment is in extremely poor taste for a public blog, imo.

Anonymous said...

I know I'm stating the obvious, but Mama, your real estate choices show so clearly that good design is beautiful, regardless of the style. I like traditional, you like modern, he likes contemporary, she likes kitsch...if the design is clear and clean and defined, we can all appreciate a different type of beauty.

And this house proves it....because there is no way in God's green earth I would live in the desert in the summer (Oh, Alessandra, I am so with you!) and I wouldn't want to live in California, anyways (go ahead, boo and hiss all you want- I like my seasons, thank you, and anyways I can go visit my Maleeboo sibling when I need a dose of serious sunshine and pacific ocean air) but I wouldn't mind living in this house.

Long-winded for a Saturday morning, but this mama was up early schlepping a kiddo....

Anonymous said...

Desert Hot Springs is sort of a community with an identity crisis. Decades ago, it was a bunch of trendy small spas with water from the natural hot springs. Some of them are quite unique, including the Desert Hot Springs Motel designed by John Lautner. Later it became a community where developers built affordable housing for the workers of the valley. More recently, developers speculated that they could build nicer homes there to attract those who felt priced out of the Palm Springs market. So you can have nice new homes (even some gated communities) near rundown motels and cheap stucco houses with junked vehicles in the yard.

This particular house is probably the most expensive house in DHS.

Jennifer Siegal also did some prefab designs to be built in DHS but I don't think any were ever built. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Anonymous said...

LOVE IT!

Anonymous said...

Dig the house -- in a big way -- a sorta Case Study vibe going on. And since it's prefab, I'll just have them send mine somewhere I actually want to live. If only all location issues were so easy to resolve...

Anonymous said...

I may be wrong, but my understanding is that for pre-fab, one of the determining factors in keeping it from hitting its stride, shipping, because the dimensions of pieces have to conform so they can basically be driven via freeway.

Anyone have more info on the market forces driving the pre-fab world?

It makes me want to buy land somewhere and figure out the house later.

Anonymous said...

Oh Mama…
I am gaga about this home. I've been pouring over the Marmol Radziner website since you uploaded the post. Have been a proponent of this construction method for decades and am elated to see these inroads--finally. I’m thankful they committed the capital to take this concept mainstream. On the "industry" side of my life, this cohesive turn-key residential marketplace entry is long in coming. They have systematically integrated a remarkable package.
PS...Apologies to those that don’t get my excitement. I'm emotionally vested in this topic. Probably doesn’t need to make sense to anyone but me. Please indulge me on this one.

Anonymous said...

Well it seems all of you have missed the point of Mama's post. Some of us are going to be kicked to the street to ply a new trade. Mama, I suspect you realize what a money maker I'd be, so I think that puts me in a position to bargain for my territory. I get first dibs on the Oak Bar at the Plaza. And I'll need a lingerie alllowance. Thank you sweet Mama.

Anonymous said...

Aunt Mary, We've had some rough trade hanging around the house ever since Mama opened the door to the blog. Just be careful with those other broads at the Plaza. They'll kiss you on the cheek then cut you when you turn around.

Anonymous said...

I LOVE THIS HOUSE.

Aunt Mary, I don't mind if Mama puts us to work as long as we all get a turn staying here. Mama, I'll be working Peacock Alley at the Waldorf when you want to pick up the cash . . .

;-)

Joel, funny you should mention Taliesin East; I was thinking more along the lines of Taliesin West when I saw this. Wright is one of my most favorite architects and I've had the pleasure of visiting many of his homes (public & private) and there is something about the compression of space leading to the outdoors of this house that reminds me of Wright. It's almost a spiritual experience.

Our summer home was a prefab and my brother builds them as well; most of his are of the dull neo-colonial type - if he were building something like this, however, I'd be working for him in a hot New York minute.

There could be just a little more xeriscaping around the house to accent the bold geometry; but the color palette is perfect for the desert, the openings wide and generous to let the outside in while keeping the strongest rays of the sun out, the furniture placement comfortable and subdued, and the siting is perfect. I want this house.

I'm off to the Waldorf to earn my share . . .

Anonymous said...

K.C., my understanding of the modern use of pre-fab is that it is factory engineered, that is the walls and such are. They then truck the walls in pieces to the job site and assemble. They pour whatever sort of foundation is to be used and then assemble. The positives about this are that the walls come out perfect because they are engineered in the factory and since let's say a development uses all pre-fab, it's cheaper than stick built. There is a stigma attached to pre-fab; we have all seen 1/2 a vinyl sided house coming down the freeway with a low pitch to the roof. Those of course are still around but I prefer to think of houses like this one as factory engineered. If I am wrong, someone correct me. Before I bought my current abode, we looked at a townhouse development that was de-vine that was made this way.

I generally do not care for this style of house but I do love this one. I think Mama and the children have given me a new appreciation for modern or mid-century. Who knows, I might even buy one someday!

Aunt Mary, can I have the spot next to you at the bar? LGB an' me want to tag team.

Anonymous said...

No thank you. That house is my personal vision of Hell. Where on earth is the water? Besides the pool? I'd rather park myself on a lounge chair somewhere on the Cape. The desert is definitely not for me.

Anonymous said...

Cheeky Gay Boy...Thank you for the link. I found the house. Neighbors are close but I love the fact that the roads are unpaved. Ten or so years will probably change that a great deal.

Little Gay Boy...I've never been to Taliesin West but it's on the list as the saying goes.

One of my brothers worked at a restaurant in Spring Green, Wisconsin that was designed by Wright. It's now the "official" visitors center for Taliesin East. The kitchen was itself beautifully set up, it's still there for all to see even now,..except the cooktops are electric and not gas...which is a detriment to me as a former restaurant person.

Anyway, I know...I know get to the point!, the high point is the bar area which overlooks a county road and The Wisconsin River. You sat at a long wooden bar, overlooking the river, with the bartender in front of you and this gorgeous river view through enormous plate glass windows. My brother always said that, no matter what anyone was doing in the bar, eventually all conversation would cease and folks would just be looking out at the river. If you ever go...you'll know exactly what I mean. Well worth the trip. Sorry for the ramble! Thanks again Mama!

Peace
Joel

Anonymous said...

Joel,

I'd actually booked a weekend at the Seth Petersen (www.sethpeterson.org) cottage a while back but a family emergency kept me from going. It's hard to book but a weekend in a Wright house is worth it.

The Spring Green restaurant wasn't built until after Wright died, but it's on, as you say, "the list".

We only have one FLLW house here on Long Island; the Ben Rebhuhn house in Great Neck, not far from where I live.

Easily seen from the road, it used to have a huge tree that grew through the roof of the dining room; when the tree died, they sawed it off at about 6 feet and have placed a lovely sculpture on it.

Anonymous said...

I like the organic analogy, but brr...

Anyone have a guess who designed the furniture?

From a livability standpoint, looks like the only place on earth I can release 5 kids, say "GO!" and not worry about them. The sun and coyotes would keep the little bastards in check.

I was quite giggly at the snot nosed bitches whooring ourselves. Nice touch. "Tired, 35 year old, married father of five, leaves banking for boning to keep Mama shacked up in the desert." Classic.

I, for one, found KC's little fantasy somewhat titillating. Hmm...

Anonymous said...

I have always been a fan of old, old architecture - the whole art deco/nouveau period, Georgian, Edwardian, etc. - and there has only verrrry rarely been an ultra modern home to catch my fancy. But this one definitely speaks to my minimalist soul.

I so agree with Lucy that "good design is beautiful, regardless of the style" and this house certainly proves it. It stirs me like the best of good art. I think I would even enjoy very much living in it. My only concern is the sometimes strong desert winds blowing sand into the pool. Makes it a bitch to keep the pool clean and is super hard on the filters. Other than that...perfect.

Anonymous said...

Sibs that are interested…
This is a hybrid in a league of its own; not to be confused with pre-fab panelized, or double wide trailers. The website is amazing and beautifully presents the system and sizeable attributes. Check out the gallery and videos! You'll appreciate the distinctions that distance this from anything that has come before it. They can ship anywhere (travel is a line item), though near-term, I’m guessing their core activity will be with a reasonable radius of the west coast production facility. I’m torqued.

Anonymous said...

LGB...I love the Seth Peterson house. Let me know if you go there...I'd be curious to hear your opinion.

We actually have two Wright-designed houses here in New Hampshire...both are on the north side of Manchester. One is a private residence and the other is owned by The Currier Gallery of Art in Manchester. An extensive rehab of the Currier house was done about five years ago where they went back down to the concrete slab and put in the heating tube system (I can't remember the correct term right this second)that Wright originally intended. He designed for copper piping...steel was used to save dollars. It's a magnificent home. truly.

Peace
Joel

Anonymous said...

Oh, Bentley dear, your advert is so sweet, and were I not a woman of a certain age, I might be tempted to ring you up. But dear, I have purses older than you. And for me it would seem dangerously close to paedophilia. I've decided the Oak Bar might not be my best venue. There must be a nice retirement home nearby that could use a "nurse's aide" with specialized skills.

Anonymous said...

All silliness aside, this house is exquisite. The glass would of course be double or even triple glaze with sun relecting coatings. The solar cells could be covering the entire roof unnoticed. The blowing sand and pool are an issue but a retractable cover would solve that. But I would use the place as a retreat. No electronic distractions except for music sound system. Books, canvases, paints, brushes, easel, wine, chocolate, cheese curls, and I'm packed and ready to move in. OMG, and gallons of sunscreen.

Anonymous said...

Bentley, five kids at 35? Sounds like you're more than ready and perhaps you can revitalize your career as a "Snot Nosed Rent Boy Bitch".

I admire your babysitting skills - leave 'em to the sun and the coyotes. I have some nephews and nieces that need looking after . . .

Aunt Mary, there are plenty of VFW halls where you could "kick in your share". But don't rule out the Oak Bar just yet, dear - there's some interesting clientele on the condo list at the Plaza.

;-)

And chilrun, not to belabor the point, but since this is a prefab house, and as Sandpiper has pointed out, that they aren't just those awful double-wides you see on I-95, I just have to mention that FLLW designed 11 of them, one on Staten Island (where the NYC dead go home at night, and your life depends upon which way the wind is blowing over the landfill) which sold not too long ago for $900K; so perhaps the pricing of this house is not too out of line when you include the acreage.

Anonymous said...

Joel,

Frank Lloyd Wright called it "radiant floor heating" and pioneered it's use in the Jacobs house in 1936.

Anonymous said...

DUSTY

Anonymous said...

Joel's descriptor of a bar on the river gets me worked up about what they did here in 'Frisco when they redid The Cliff House, next to the ruins of the sutro baths.

the building itself is modern with some interesting exterior lines, as well as some expansive dining spaces inside.

the roof signage as you come down Geary and make the final descent seems like an homage to Mildred Pierce, and makes a very cheery and welcome contrast to the rather chilly facade.

BUT, they botched the bar area not lining the bar up against the bank of windows on the sea side, but rather, they built the it alongside the opposing wall, so when you're sitting there facing the bartender, your back is to the sea, while he or she gazes out onto the great pacific while gauging tip potential.

not to be a name dropper, but during Mama's last trip out west, we sat at that very bar and drank numerous Champagne cocktails in order to patch together a friendship almost torn apart by an argument revolving around the sexual inclinations and proclivities of Whig-party member Mike Piazza.

Anonymous said...

In future fantasy sequences, I will use Bentley's kinder, gentler (but still vivid) term, "boning" instead of the gerund derived from the anglo saxon word "fuck" which i understand means "to plant"

Xeriscaping could get a whole lot more interesting!

Anonymous said...

Little Buddie,
Did Wright originate the steel framing system featured in Mama's post? I'm confused. Or, are you talking about pre-fab in general. There's a big difference. Help me out.

Or are we generalizing the pre-fab concept now. I'll go where you lead. :)

Anonymous said...

This is a bargain bargain bargain. Despite the fact that it has a DHS address rather than Palm Springs. It might have been duplicated in PS (if you could find the 5 acre lot), but this would then probably list closer to $10 mil. This is a fab-u-lous property, and an instant important American architectural example. This one has secured it's seat in the "Important Properties" book and is a steal. I'm running out to buy my lottery tickets right now!!!!

Anonymous said...

KC-
(Children, close your ears.)

How dare you come here and talk that way. It is unacceptable. It's been too long a day to clever up my comment to you. Find a sick-o site and have your cheap thrills. Don't have them here.

To my family...Forgive me and/or pass up commenting, please. This person is sick and insulting.

Anonymous said...

although i agree what kc said was course, i got no problem with course.

in the future sandpiper, i suggest you just don't read kc's comments. solves that problem. and all due respect, but we don't need a morals monitor here.

Anonymous said...

To hi there,

Moral monitor? Me? You've got to be kidding. If that were the case, I'd be long gone.

Your suggestion has been noted and appropriately filed.

Anonymous said...

Sandpiper:

Frank Lloyd Wright pioneered the use of radiant floor heating, where hot water pipes are embedded in a concrete slab so that the heat slowly rises, warming the entire building (including the stone walls and whatever other partitions sit on the slab). The idea was to warm the entire structure, not just the air in it.

He conceived the idea after a visit to Japan during negotiations with the Emperor to build the Imperial Hotel, the only major building to survive the 1923 earthquake (he floated the foundation on hundreds of slim columns instead of a rigid perimeter foundation.)

The Emperor entertained him in what was referred to as the "Korean Room", which was kept warm by tile channels that ran under the floor from the stove (kind of like a zigzag chimney). He brought the idea back to the states with him, adapted it to modern technology, and most of his houses thereafter were radiantly heated.

FLLW always worked on the problem of low cost housing (the Jacobs House, where he first using radiant heating, cost $5000 in 1936) and made several unsuccessful attempts to design prefab houses with US Steel, amongst other developers. Only 11 were ever built and although some fell into a state of disrepair, they are now being rescued.

BTW although not shocked, I did think KC was a little tactless. And, I always thought the origin of the "F" word was an acronym used in Victorian England by the police who arrested prostitues and charged them with "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge"

That said, lighten up a little "Hi There;" we've all said things that people here have jumped down our throats for - it's OK to say so.

Anonymous said...

Correction:

The dictionary states the origin of the word dates from 1495 - 1505, well predating Victorian England by just a few centuries.

;-)

Anonymous said...

Considering it's Pre Fab the place is very nice, tasteful and well proportioned. However, as far as location...forget it, I need to be near the ocean or at least have a view of it, the desert does nothing for me.

Anonymous said...

Ahem. If there's one thing the midwest has in spades, it's Frank Lloyd Wright houses. Oak Park alone has somewhere in the mid-20's.

If you're ever in my neck of the woods, it's well worth the side trip to take a walking tour. Fabulousity.

Anonymous said...

Lucy, sign me up!

Anonymous said...

Oh dear, a little history lesson on a very dirty word. Well it came a Royal Order posted on the door of whatever unfortunate lady who was "chosen" to do her "duty" to His Majesty. Fornication Under the Commandmant of the King. Now you know.....

Anonymous said...

Hey Little Buddy,
Ya, I'm tuned into Frank Lloyd Wright. The radient heating bit was included in a way-big paper I did in school. He was absolutely a proponent of prefab -- and I admire him for it -- but I persist (for fun!) ... from everything I have learned, Wright never did what these guys are doing. Did I miss something. Generic prefab is a no-brainer. The properties rendered by this firm are significantly unique in their methods and materials. You know you're my bud. Set me straight! Are they bootlegging Frank?

Alessandra said...

Am digging the history lesson on pre-fab design. Hopefully when our Mama send us out to ply our trade, I can use my knowledge of architecture and design to chat up those nice enough to listen. Otherwise, my inducements might be limited.

I agree with Aunt Mary that this home would be a fantastic retreat. Perhaps it would suit as a third or fourth home for those of us who crave the solitude of the desert but cannot abide the upper end of its extreme climate...

Anonymous said...

Hell, I figured a blog post that implied we were all gonna be sent out to work as prostitutes in order to keep Mama in the manner to which she wants to become accustomed would allow a comment that included the word that describes the action that prostitutes engage in.

Maybe it was the gay part of the story that got Sandpiper and the other person so mad???

Anyhow, like i said, I will now use the term "bone"


While there is some conflict about where the word F**k comes from, Snopes.com, a site dedicated to verifying urban myths declares that indeed, the "Fornication Under Consent of the King" as an acronym that later became the verb is false! Tho, it of course sounds good.

My own introduction to it's anglo saxon origins is from a James Michener novel, which I believe was titled, The Drifters.


Other sources indicate that it's derived from the german -

Fuck is a good Germanic word, with possible Anglo-Saxon roots. The taboo nature of the word has kept its history obscure, but we have enough information to sketch it's etymology vaguely. The word suppossedly first appears in print in Scots, in the form "fukkit" around 1503. Whether we can truely say this is its first appearance in English or not depends on whether you consider Scots Doric a language or a dialect. We can directly relate it, however, to the German "Fick" = "fuck" and "ficken" = "to fuck." The word originally meant "to move back and forth quickly" or more simply "to move quickly." It could also mean, "to whip" or "to flag.

Anonymous said...

C'mon, KC, let's be honest: You're not actually surprised someone took offense. Your comment wasn't far off of Penthouse Letters, or whatever its gay equivalent might be. I'd guess it was the graphic description -- not the gender of the participants -- that upset Sandpiper.

Nothing offends me. I thought it was a weird inaugural comment from someone we don't "know" yet. But, yeah, okay, whatever. I would, however, ask you to dial it down out of respect for those who consider the precise details of your bedhead fantasies TMI.

Anonymous said...

If you live in the Coachella Valley, you classify Desert Hot Springs as our local "gang ghetto". If you need something you better go to Palm Springs to buy it. Your chances of getting shot in any of the populated areas of DHS is as good as meeting a man on a Saturday night on Arenas in PS. Its not if, it's when. DHS is where all the people who can't afford to live in Riverside or Corona move to. It's a gang infested hang out for all the welfare mommas and their children. If you can afford this house, you'd probably come up from the OC on the weekends and have your housekeeper have the place stocked. No running to 7-11 for some toilet paper... unless you are up for a real life game of Grand Theft Auto. Your Lexus SUV will be gone before Jose rings up your purchase.

Anonymous said...

To quote my sixteen year old's favorite movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, "Sometimes you just have to say, 'What the F**K.'"...although he said the actual word, obviously.

And that's all I'm going to say about that!

LGB....next time you're in Chicagoland, let me know, and I'll go with you!

Anonymous said...

Lucy, you've got a deal; always wanted to take one of those walking tours through Oak Park and surrounding areas, and see up close some homes like the Heurtley and Coonley residences, the Mrs. Thomas Gale house, and of course Wright's own home/studio.

Even his Tudor interpretation in the Nathan Moore house would satisfy my lust for FLLW.

Anonymous said...

We sure are long-winded today! I'm chiming in on KC's apparently offending comment. Mama doesn't censor. Indeed, she has a rather ribald sense of humor. However she has knocked heads when speech is hateful. I tend to agree with her. Otherwise, I think one can say about anything if it's witty, pithy, informative and not boring.

Welcome aboard KC but be forwarned, you may get your mouth washed out with soap.

Anonymous said...

Sandpiper,

No they're not bootlegging Frank - just taking advantage of the fact that he never bothered to patent his ideas, in the hopes that others would follow and change the course of architecture, which they did.

We have him to thank for radiant heating, turning the orientation of a house to the garden side as opposed to the street, cantilevered toilets, floor to ceiling glass doors and windows, the carport, clerestory windows, etc.

Sure many of his houses were notorious for leaking in the rain (he once told a complaining Herbert Johnson on the phone, who built Wingspread, that if the roof was dripping on his dining chair during a party, to move the chair!)

Now that so many buildings of his are being restored (and some finally built for the first time, like the 1942 house in Lake Mahopac in NY - recently completed), builders are finding out that his ideas outstripped the technology available at the time and are beginning to use 21st century materials to great success.

KC, I too welcome you aboard (ask me about the loofah incident sometime) - start practicing on your euphemisms . . .

Anonymous said...

LGB - twins, dude, 2 sets, count 'em, TWO, and by plain old sex. Not a hormone injection or petri dish in sight.

Back to the house. I really would welcome any input on the furniture. Coming from somewhat more, traditional, tweedy and suedish East coast stock, I find this stuff sublime, and I want some. Educate me, please...

Anonymous said...

Much of the furniture here was also designed by Leo Marmol.

Anonymous said...

Bentley,
Two sets of twins? Wow!

Aunt Mary,
You should work at the United Nations, cause I'm now gonna say:

KC,
It wasn't my place to respond like that. You need to know I'm not a delicate flower on the riabald humor front. Mama's gift of words is nothing short of genious. The commentary she invokes is off-the-charts gut-splitting, risque, clever, smart and a blast to be part of. You came out of left field yesterday with what I thought was going to be another flamer here. It took Aunt Mary, Bentley and my little buddy-LGB to give me a "lighten-up" nuggie, and I love them for it.

Anonymous said...

Bentley, TWO sets of twins?

Funnily enough, my supervisor on one of my first jobs also had 2 sets of twins, 13 months apart! Four babies in diapers at the same time - no wonder she was only 5' 2" by the time I met her.

;-)

From what I could find, Hi There is correct in that most of the furniture is designed by the architect; it has a certain Wright-esque quality to it which is why it probably suits the house so well.

Sandpiper, you're one class act, always have been.

Anonymous said...

Sandpiper, you are an amazing personality. I'm fascinated by the breadth of your knowledge. You have a lot to contribute to this blog, as do so many others. I'm not a realestate person, obviously, and I'm here for fun but I'm learning so much from all of you. This is a smart and funny crowd. I get at least one belly laugh a day. :)

Anonymous said...

y'all need to get a room, i'm serious.
and some peanut butter.
and a spatula for tha aunt jemima treatment.
and a videocam for youtube.

Anonymous said...

Caveman, you left out the witness to swear that it never happened.

Anonymous said...

Seriously to all...Thanks. <3

Anonymous said...

Aunt Mary, you forgot to mention that if KC does get his mouth washed out with soap, it will of course be Crabtree & Evelyn . . .

Anonymous said...

nah, life buoy is the soap that will do the most damage, according to ralphie anyway.

Anonymous said...

Stunning! Price seems good too.

Anonymous said...

Obviously, dear momma, you have not visited said property. It is between a crack house and one of Southern California's most heinous Taco Bell wanna be homes, each with it's own set of malicious dogs. These people literally shoot at each other and the Marmol 'Estate" is smack dab in the middle of the gunfire. The lovely Alyssa is afraid to spend the night there. The totally rutted and washed out dirt road leading to the 5 acre parcel passes a burned out, abandoned house with a microbus on blocks in the yard and a gazillion plastic bags hanging on the chain link fence topped with barbed wire that are there because the wind NEVER stops blowing. The fenced with yet another chain link fence, to protect the (not) poor Marmols from the absolute worst of the worst trash in Desert Hot Springs. Now don't get me wrong, the architecture is stunning, the views are magnificent and the outdoor areas are beautiful, but what is the very first rule of real estate??? Location Location Location. Well, baby this is the shittiest location in all of California. Nothing is as bad as Desert Hot Springs. Oh, I'm sorry. Perhaps El Centro is worse. Maybe not.

And, where or where, dear momma, did you EVER get the idea that Desert Hot Springs was increasingly desirable? It is so awful, the desert trash are moving out. To places like Wisconsin, no less. All that will be left is corrupt politicians and meth labs.

Actual value - about $700,000 - $500K for the house, $200K for the land. They ought to pick the place up and truck it back to LA and place it on a lot in Beverly Hills and sell it for $5 million.

designerjimo said...

I got a good laugh, especially from those who speculated that the wife demanded the sale as she could not abide the meth labs and the drive-by shootings. That's not it at all. The real problem is food: there is NO caterer who will even bid DHS, there is no decent DHS resturant aside from Mexican, and a Martini is most likely considered a drink for Martians by folk at the DHS biker bars.

After a few months of not even home delivery from the local grocer, I'm sure she's had enough of "camping" while enjoying the view of Palm Springs beckoning from beyond the cultural wasteland spread across the valley floor!

Anonymous said...

Interesting discussion going on here. I have been (briefly) looking at real estate in DHS, and appreciate the input from those familiar with the area. For those who might be interested, the asking price of this house has been dropped to $1.2 mil...and, for the record, they only paid $110K for the lot in 2003. At 1.2 mil, this is a whopping $569/sf. However, this isn't even the most expensive house currently on the market in DHS... 12182 Highland Ave is listed at $1.25 mil (but has twice the square footage inside). And, incidentally, anyone who loves the look of this house enough to move to the desert can purchase the house across the street (68444 Clow Lane) for $206K (foreclosure - bought in 2005 for $485K, by someone who obviously was living beyond his/her means)...it's on a 1.1 acre lot, with 2600 sf of living space...and you can admire the Marmol Radziner house from your living room window.