Katie Horak, Principal, Architectural Resources Group

Sian Winship, Preservation Consultant

Lauren Hoferkamp, Color Marketing Manager, Dunn-Edwards Paints

Midcentury Modernism wasn’t always white. In fact, some of the desert’s most celebrated Modernist communities were originally alive with color.

Join preservation experts and homeowners as they reveal surprising discoveries made while researching and restoring the original paint colors of Ocotillo Lodge, Marrakesh Country Club, Sandpiper and other significant desert projects.

Historic black-and-white photography and decades of renovations favoring a crisp white aesthetic have helped create a very different picture of Modernism from the one its architects originally envisioned. Julius Shulman’s color photographs reveal something altogether more vibrant: buildings enlivened by carefully selected colors that responded to architecture, landscape and the intense desert light.

At Sandpiper, architect William Krisel drew inspiration directly from the desert, specifying colors with names including Yucca, Mustard, Palisade, Artichoke, Buccaneer and Weathered Brown. Together, they created an architectural rhythm that gradually disappeared as individual colors gave way to uniformity.

Discover how preservationists uncover these lost palettes through archival research, microscopic paint analysis and color matching, and how those findings can guide authentic restoration today.

It’s a colorful new way to look at Desert Modernism, and a reminder that the desert was never simply black, white and beige.

A portion of the proceeds from this event directly benefit the Palm Springs Modern Committee (PS ModCom), a non-profit organization dedicated to the appreciation and preservation of Desert Modern architecture and design. We accomplish this through education, advocacy for threatened buildings, promotion of heritage tourism, and the celebration of successes in preservation and adaptive reuse.

psmodcom.org