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HomeMy WebLinkAbout23283 RESOLUTION NO. 23283 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, DESIGNATING THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 992 EAST LA JOLLA ROAD / TWIN PALMS ESTATE MODEL A2 RESIDENCE AS A CLASS 1 HISTORIC SITE (HSPB 85). WHEREAS, in 1957-58, the Alexander Construction Company's first single family residential development was constructed, including the dwelling at the northwest corner of E. La Jolla Road and Navajo, and with a site address of 992 E. La Jolla Road; and WHEREAS, the dwelling has been remodeled and restored, including landscaping designed by William Krisel, one of the original architects on the dweling; and WHEREAS, the defining characteristics of this building include: - Post-and-beam construction; - Expansive floor to ceiling windows with clerestories; - The absence of moldings or trim around windows and doors; - A breezeway that connects the carport to main house; - Screens and walls with decorative cutouts; - Idiosyncratic gable roofline; and - Exterior finishes of board and batten wood siding and native stone WHEREAS, Chapter 8.05 of the Palm Springs Municipal Code allows for the designation of historic sites; and WHEREAS, the property owner, Lawrence E. Wood, has submitted an application for Historic Site Designation for the subject property; and WHEREAS, notice of a public hearing of the Historic Site Preservation Board of the City of Palm Springs to consider designation of the property at 992 E. La Jolla Road (Twin Palms Estate Model A2 Residence), as a historic site was issued in accordance with applicable law; and WHEREAS, on November 13, 2012, the Historic Site Preservation Board conducted a public hearing in accordance with applicable law to consider designation of the property at 992 E. La Jolla Road (Twin Palms Estate Model A2 Residence) as a historic site, and at which meeting the Historic Site Preservation Board carefully reviewed and considered all of the evidence in connection with the designation, including but not limited to the staff report, application and historical research, all written and oral testimony presented; and WHEREAS, notice of a public hearing of the City Council of the City of Palm Springs to consider designation of the property at 992 E. La Jolla Road (Twin Palms Estate Model A2 Residence), as a historic site was issued in accordance with applicable law; and Resolution No. 23283 Page 2 WHEREAS, on January 2, 2013, the City Council conducted a public hearing in accordance with applicable law to consider designation of the property at 992 E. La Jolla Road (Twin Palms Estate Model A2 Residence) as a historic site, and at which meeting the City Council carefully reviewed and considered all of the evidence in connection with the designation, including but not limited to the staff report, application and historical research, all written and oral testimony presented THE CITY COUNCIL HEREBY FINDS AS FOLLOWS: 1. The property reflects or exemplifies a particular period of the national, state or local history. Midcentury modern residential architecture developed deep roots in Palm Springs beginning in the 1950's and the Twin Palms Estates Model A-2 Residence is an excellent example of how the style served to create an open plan residential environment for both weekend visitors and fulltime residents. The building has been restored to its nearly original condition with no significant modifications or additions imposed on the structure since its construction. The property well-exemplifies Palm Springs' and Southern California's embrace of the midcentury modern tract house style in the mid- part of the 20th century. 2. The property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period or method of construction. The residence embodies the distinctive characteristics of its type, period and method of construction and is an excellent example of how midcentury modern architecture was expressed in multi-unit speculative housing subdivisions. The basic plan and one of the multiple variations presented at the site serve as examples of simplified and standardized building features that fostered resort-style living featuring post-and-beam construction with large expanses of Resolution No. 23283 Page 3 glass. Exterior spaces were fully developed to allow year-round use of the outdoor amenities including patios spas and pools. The subject property could easily serve as a model for the genre expressed in plan, form, proportion, structure, style, materials and architectural details. 3. The property presents the work of a master builder, designer, artist, or architect whose individual genius influenced his age; or that possesses high artistic value. The property presents the work of a master architect and possesses high artistic value. This building is an excellent example of architects Palmer & Krisel's command of the midcentury idiom. Their use of the style in this project illustrates the adaptability of the style to a multi-family setting. The way in which the defining characteristics of this property are related by style, choice and availability of materials and technology utilized in its construction makes show the sure hand of a master in creating a structure that fully articulates the aesthetic ideal of a Midcentury modern vacation home more fully than many other properties of its type. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that, based upon the foregoing, the City Council does hereby adopt the attached Statement of Historic Significance and designate the entire property located at 992 E. La Jolla Road as a Historic Site, Class 1 subject to the following conditions; 1. The property owner shall permit the City to place a historic marker of the City's choosing at the site. The marker shall be placed in a location visible from the public right-of-way. The owner shall maintain the marker in the location installed and pay for the replacement cost if the plaque is lost, stolen, or otherwise removed from the property. 2. All future modifications of the existing structures, as well as any new buildings shall require HSPB review pursuant Municipal Code Ordinance 8.05.180. 3. No review for maintenance of the parking lot or landscaping shall be required, except that, subject to staff approval, any new landscape materials shall be native or desert-appropriate, including removal of turf, where practical. 4. All requirements of the Palm Springs Zoning Code shall be met. Resolution No. 23283 Page 4 5. That the City Clerk submit the Council Resolution to the County recorder for recordation within 90 days of the effective date of this resolution. 6. Any alterations or modifications to the exterior approved prior to the designation of this site by the City Council shall be considered legal, non-conforming only as to Section 8.05 of the Palm Springs Municipal Code. ADOPTED THIS 2ND DAY OF JANUARY, 2013. David H. Ready, Hager ATTEST: es Thompson, City Clerk Resolution No. 23283 Page 5 CERTIFICATION STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE ) ss. CITY OF PALM SPRINGS ) I, JAMES THOMPSON, City Clerk of the City of Palm Springs, hereby certify that Resolution No. 23283 is a full, true and correct copy, and was duly adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Palm Springs on January 2, 2013, by the following vote: AYES: Councilmember Foat, Councilmember Hutcheson, Councilmember Lewin, Mayor Pro Tern Mills, and Mayor Pougnet. NOES: None. ABSENT: None. ABSTAIN: None. es Thompson, City Clerk �z/�o/2a i3 City of Palm Springs, California Resolution No. 23283 Page 6 STATEMENT OF HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE 992 E. LA JOLLA ROAD EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Statement of Significance: The subject property meets architectural criteria 3, 4 and 5 to qualify as a Class 1 site because it exemplifies the Midcentury Modern architectural style and period of local history; embodies the distinctive characteristics of that type, period, and method of construction; represents the work of Master architects Palmer & Krisel, AIA, and possesses high artistic values. Palm Springs is known internationally for its significant concentration of Midcentury modern residential and commercial construction. In fact, it is safe to say that no American city is more closely identified with this particular period of American architecture; the city truly exemplifies this period of national State and local history. As such, the building qualifies for listing as a Class 1 site under Criterion 3. Additionally, the building embodies the distinctive characteristics of the type, period, and methods of mass residential development construction. The building's distinctive characteristics, physical features and traits include resort-style living featuring post-and- beam construction that featured large expanses of glass; exterior spaces were fully developed to stimulate the year-round use of outdoor amenities such as patios spas and swimming pools. Eligibility under these criteria requires that a property contain enough of these characteristics to be considered a true representative of its particular type, period, and method of construction. The subject property could easily serve as a model for the type with all of the characteristics, as expressed in terms such as form, proportion, structure, plan, style, materials and architectural details. The building serves in general as a reference to ideas of design and construction, basic plan and form, as well as in the specific, for the precise ways it combines the particular materials found in this property and in variations throughout the neighboring development. The way in which the defining characteristics of this property are related by style, choice and availability of the materials and technology utilized in its construction is emphasized because it is a perfectly restored example of its type and period of construction. The subject property becomes an important example within the context of the building practices of the 1950s. The house and the development represent an important phase of the development of Palm Springs and influenced the development of later subdivisions. For these reasons the building qualifies for listing as a Class 1 site under Criterion 4. To understand how Palmer & Krisel merit the honor of being called "master architects" it is necessary to understand their background and careers. The following biographies of both Palmer and Krisel were drawn from the Los Angeles Times obituary for Dan Saxon Palmer dated January 29, 2007 by Claire Noland and the William Krisel archive at the Getty Museum. Resolution No. 23283 Page 7 Dan Saxon Palmer (1920 — 2007) was born in Budapest, Hungary. Two years later he moved with his parents to New York, where his father operated a Hungarian import business and his mother was a dress designer. After earning a bachelor's degree in architecture from New York University in 1942, Palmer served in the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II as a mapmaker, draftsman and photographer in England and France. After the war, he apprenticed in the offices of architects Morris Lapidus in New York and Victor Gruen in Los Angeles. William Krisel (1924— present) was born and raised in Shanghai, China to American parents until the family relocated to Beverly Hills in 1937. Krisel developed an early interest in architecture which he attributes to his father's correspondence with Rancho Santa Fe architect Lillian Rice, who designed a home for the family in California. He enrolled at the University of Southern California (USC) as an architecture student in 1941, but his studies were interrupted by the onset of World War II. He served for three years as a Chinese interpreter before returning to USC. As a student, Krisel apprenticed at the offices of Paul Laszlo and Victor Gruen. He graduated in 1949 and obtained his license in 1950, the same year he formalized his partnership with architect Dan Saxon Palmer whom he had met when they both worked in Gruen's office. Krisel would go on to earn his license as a landscape architect in 1954. "The firm, Palmer & Krisel, AIA, Architects (including for a brief period a third partner, John Lindsay) focused its early attention on custom homes in Bel Air and Brentwood, where they experimented with the modular post-and-beam system that they would later employ in their tract houses. In 1952, Palmer and Krisel completed their first tract development, consisting of ten houses in the San Fernando Valley. The attention the firm gained from builders for this modest project led to a new collaboration with the family-owned Alexander Construction Company, which commenced with the Corbin Palms development in 1953. "Over the next decade, Palmer and Krisel expanded their practice to meet the needs of the booming housing industry by offering a complete array of services to clients and builders. Their work came to be characterized by unique siting, minimal ornamentation, butterfly roofs, and large glass windows, all of which reflected ongoing popular interest in casual indoor-outdoor living. The standardized designs of these single-family tract homes made them both easy to construct and accessible to first-time homebuyers. The residential projects reveal Krisel's interest in experimenting with construction methods, building materials, and layout patterns, as well as his consideration of lifestyle changes after World War II. Krisel's work with Palmer represented the mass replication of the ideals and aesthetic of the program, moving beyond prototype to meet the large-scale needs of the postwar housing boom. Over the next decade, the pair would design approximately 20,000 units of housing in Southern California. "Looking to broaden their market, the Alexanders turned to the Coachella Valley as a site of recreational development. In order to bring visitors to Palm Springs and the surrounding area, they commissioned a destination resort in 1954, which Palmer and Resolution No. 23283 Page 8 Krisel designed on a ten-acre site. The Ocotillo Lodge was completed in 1957 and featured a striking modern design juxtaposed against the warm desert landscape. Additional Alexander tracts in the vicinity of the resort made the ownership of second residences outside of Los Angeles, including condominiums and single family houses, popular among members of the middle class. These projects include Twin Palm Estates, Racquet Club Road Estates, and the Sandpiper Condominiums. The homes were notable for their textured landscaping, concrete block walls, extensive glass walls featuring desert views, and swimming pools, emphasizing an elegant, but relaxed lifestyle."' Palmer and Krisel ended their partnership in 1964, but it is the firm's work through that year that is relevant to this nomination. The firm's principals Dan Palmer and William Krisel qualify as master architects because they are figures of generally recognized greatness in their profession as exemplified by the subject property. It expresses the distinctly Mid-century modernist phase in the development of their careers, a theme for which they continue to be known. As an example and prototype, the subject property possesses high artistic values as expressed in both architectural and community design and planning. It is eligible for its high artistic values because it fully articulates the aesthetic ideal of a Midcentury modern vacation home more fully than many other properties of its type. For these reasons the building qualifies for listing as a Class 1 site under Criterion 5.