Hot on the heels of Palm Springs Modernism Week 2024, a classic Walter S White house has been updated and appears poised for take-off – literally and figuratively. The 1958 modernist architecture bungalow situated near the San Jacinto Mountains boasts architect and industrial designer White’s signature patented hyperbolic-paraboloid roof plan that makes it appear to levitate off the desert landscape.
A Walter S White house's rebirth
And yet even as it transcends its environment, it opens up to it. Grounded by two supports on each side of the home, anchored by concrete feet, White’s design orients the roof so that it both blocks the harsh desert light, allowing light in later in the day, and embraces the mountain view.
The renovation by Sean Gaston, is a triumph of both design and preservation. There were rumours in 2022 of the classic home’s eminent demise, when the Willcockson house, originally named for its first owner, a pastor of the same name, was put on the market. Indio lacks a historic preservation ordinance that has saved similar midcentury modern gems in neighbouring Palm Springs. But owner Gary Funtas whose family acquired it in 1963, wanted to sell to someone who would preserve the home and not demolish it.
Happily, its modernist heritage credentials were championed by local architectural aficionado Steve Aldana, an urban planner who runs the modern architecture and design website Esoteric Survey. While he was familiar with the home, he had never seen it and prior to the estate sale was unsure if it even still existed.
He had seen the prolific White’s other works scattered across 30 different Coachella Valley neighbourhoods via Modernism Week tours. These included the iconic Miles C Bates or Wave house, whose curved roof mimics the surrounding mountains and his 1954 Franz Alexander Residence in Palm Springs with a unique roofline that opens up to the sky.
White came to Palm Springs in 1947 to work with Albert Frey’s firm, and many architectural historians contend his Willcockson house influenced Albert Frey's house and the Tramway gas station that's now used as the Palm Springs Visitor Center.
While the home’s design credentials were impeccable, its interior suffered from some unfortunate 1980s interventions and additions and tired wallpaper that diminished it considerably. Streamlining the living room with a typically midcentury wood panelling and a built-in sofa unit, Gaston discovered existing wood-panelled walls that had been hidden by drywall. His initial preservationist instincts were happily challenged when he took his clients’ (new owners Chris and Jen Baldivid) cue to open up the boxy midcentury kitchen by taking out the wall. The new combined kitchen/living area is now the home’s great hall – one that both anchors it in the landscape and opens it up to the outdoors.
-
Dutch Design Awards 2025 honour a new generation of creativesRecognising the use of AI as a design tool, social commentary, and new materials, this year’s Dutch Design Awards go to Vera van der Burg; Willem de Haan; and Marten van Middelkoop and Joost Dingemans of Plasticiet
-
The return of Genghis Cohen: LA’s cult Chinese diner lives onThe 1980s Chinese-American landmark returns with red booths, neon nostalgia, and a fresh dose of Hollywood eccentricity
-
A monumental exhibition of French design revives the spirit of art deco for contemporary timesThe Galerie des Gobelins hosts the inaugural Salon des Nouveaux Ensembliers, a contemporary movement inspired by art deco’s grand traditions
-
Explore Tom Kundig’s unusual houses, from studios on wheels to cabins slotted into bouldersThe American architect’s entire residential portfolio is the subject of a comprehensive new book, ‘Tom Kundig: Complete Houses’
-
Ballman Khaplova creates a light-filled artist’s studio in upstate New YorkThis modest artist’s studio provides a creative with an atelier and office in the grounds of an old farmhouse, embedding her practice in the surrounding landscape
-
The most important works of modernist landscape architecture in the USModernist landscapes quite literally grew alongside the modern architecture movement. Field specialist and advocate Charles A. Birnbaum takes us on a tour of some of the finest examples
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s houses of the monthThis September, Wallpaper highlighted a striking mix of architecture – from iconic modernist homes newly up for sale to the dramatic transformation of a crumbling Scottish cottage. These are the projects that caught our eye
-
Jeanne Gang’s single malt whisky decanter offers a balance ‘between utility and beauty’The architect’s whisky decanter, 'Artistry in Oak', brings a sculptural dimension to Gordon & MacPhail's single malt
-
An idyllic slice of midcentury design, the 1954 Norton House has gone on the marketNorton House in Pasadena, carefully crafted around its sloping site by Buff, Straub & Hensman, embodies the Californian ideal of the suburban modern house embedded within a private landscape
-
Richard Neutra's Case Study House #20, an icon of Californian modernism, is for salePerched high up in the Pacific Palisades, a 1948 house designed by Richard Neutra for Dr Bailey is back on the market
-
Herzog & de Meuron and Piet Oudolf unveil Calder Gardens in PhiladelphiaThe new cultural landmark presents Alexander Calder’s work in dialogue with nature and architecture, alongside the release of Jacques Herzog’s 'Sketches & Notes'. Ellie Stathaki interviews Herzog about the project.
