Donald Wexler’s Palm Springs Home Is on the Market for $3.8M

The famed architect revamped his post-and-beam house in 2008, and it comes with an open plan, floor-to-ceiling windows, and a boulder-strewn site with a black-bottom pool.
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Location: 1272 East Verbena Dr, Palm Springs, California

Price: $3,800,000

Year Built: 1955

Architect: Donald Wexler

Renovation Date: 2008

Renovation Architect: Lance O’Donnell

Renovation Interior Designer: Darren Brown

Footprint: 2,424 square feet (3 bedrooms, 2 baths)

Lot Size: 0.29 Acres 

From the Agent: "On almost a third of an acre in fashionable Movie Colony East, two blocks from Ruth Hardy Park, the architect’s own home remains a testament to the timelessness of midcentury-modern design. Donald Wexler is widely considered the father of desert architecture in the Coachella Valley, famous for the Palm Springs International Airport, the Dinah Shore estate, and the innovative Steel Development Houses that dot the northern edge of the city. Here in the home where he and his family lived for almost 40 years, the architect employed a softer touch with an all-wood structure. In a collaborative intervention by Donald Wexler himself, architect Lance O’Donnell, and interior designer Darren Brown, the home was completely remodeled from top to bottom. The site itself is completely private, surrounded by a hedgerow, and invisible from the street. Inside, however, the property opens up to the house, surrounded by ancient boulders and a mature landscape of native plants, most likely the unsubstantiated work of designer Antone Dalu, who worked on most of Wexler’s projects in the 1950s. A substantial black-bottom swimming pool and detached spa offer views of the San Jacinto mountains in the distance."

The property has earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places, and the City of Palm Springs has designated it a Historic Resource.

The property has earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places, and the City of Palm Springs has designated it a Historic Resource.

Donald Wexler worked as an apprentice under both Richard Neutra and William F. Cody.

Donald Wexler worked as an apprentice under both Richard Neutra and William F. Cody.

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The revamped home won the Palm Springs Modern Committee’s residential restoration of the year award. 

The revamped home won the Palm Springs Modern Committee’s residential restoration of the year award. 

Per the agent, "The wood post and double-beam system, a Wexler signature, provided a flexible, open floor plan which could expand and contract as the needs of the family changed."

Per the agent, "The wood post and double-beam system, a Wexler signature, provided a flexible, open floor plan which could expand and contract as the needs of the family changed."

The renovation introduced terrazzo floors and an updated kitchen and bathrooms.

The renovation introduced terrazzo floors and an updated kitchen and bathrooms.

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1272 East Verbena Drive in Palm Springs, California, is currently listed for $3,800,000 by Rick Grahn of Compass and Brian Linder, AIA of The Value Of Architecture.

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Will Allstetter
Will Allstetter is a writer, designer, and software engineer based in NYC. His work focuses on technology, art, and culture. You can find him online at willallstetter.com.

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