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Key architectural features of the Kaufmann House include its flat, extending rooflines that provide shade and cooling in the desert heat and its expansive glass walls, which dissolve the barriers between indoors and the natural world outside. The use of sliding glass doors and moveable wall panels allows the living spaces to be entirely open to the outdoors, a revolutionary concept emphasizing the therapeutic benefits of living in close contact with nature. The Kaufmann House was designed and built when American architecture was undergoing significant transformation.
Kaufmann House; Richard Neutra's Iconic Palm Springs Desert Modern Design
The Kaufmann Desert House designed by Richard Neutra is regarded among the most important and iconic houses of the 20th century," reads the listing by Sotheby's International Realty. It can give insight into our ancestors' customs, rituals, technologies, religions, and daily life. Architecture can provide a deeper understanding of the evolution and development of the human species. It allows us to have a holistic perspective on our place in the context of humanity. From prehistoric structures to contemporary architecture, we can see what was important to humans at the time and what were they trying to say through their buildings.
AD 经典：考夫曼住宅 / Richard Neutra
They were able to obtain pieces from the original suppliers of paint and fixtures, and purchased a metal-crimping machine to reproduce the sheet-metal fascia that lined the roof. A unique feature of the house is its second-floor, open-air covered patio—designed by Neutra as a way of getting around strict local building regulations that, at the time, restricted home construction to a single level. Julius Shulman’s photographs, mainly the dusk shot from the southeast overlooking the pool with the mountains in the background, allowed people worldwide to view the house. The large amount of publicity surrounding the Kaufmann House constituted a turning point in the marketing and consumption of architecture and lifestyle. Those owners, Brent Harris, an investment manager, and Beth Edwards Harris, an architectural historian, are finalizing their divorce, and plan to auction the Kaufmann House at Christie’s in New York in May. The building, with a presale estimate of $15 million to $25 million, will be part of Christie’s high-profile evening sale of postwar and contemporary art.
One of Richard Neutra's Most Iconic Homes Hits the Market for $25 Million - Galerie Magazine
One of Richard Neutra's Most Iconic Homes Hits the Market for $25 Million.
Posted: Tue, 20 Oct 2020 07:00:00 GMT [source]
View all galleries in Construction technologies
Quincy Jones for media mogul Walter Annenberg, the original estate is comprised of 25,000 square foot house on 200 acres. As you approach the house from the south, you walk through two piles of desert boulders toward a site gate. A handsome southwestern profile composed of vertical stone walls and floating metal planes sits just beyond. From this angle, the structure looks more like an open-air desert pavilion than a home. The home is a one-story structure that subtly accommodates itself to the site by stepping up slightly on three levels, made more dramatic through the introduction of a roofed (but otherwise open-air) second floor room.
The Sagrada Familia in Barcelona Spain, by architect Antoni Gaudi is a seminal work of architecture. Listen to the story of how the cathedral came to fruition and why it is one of the most important works of architecture in history. If you are an Orange County property owner, you may be interested in the new loan program aimed at helping homeowners build an ADU on their property. Orange County Housing Finance Trust has developed a program to encourage property owners to invest in an ADU by providing access to low-interest, deferred, partially forgivable loans for qualified owners. A small amount of controversy came about with the commissioning of the Kaufmann House when Austrian architect Richard Neutra was hired to do the job instead of Wright.
In California’s Carmel Valley, a Picturesque Retreat Lists for $11 Million
In 1992 it was bought and renovated to its original design by couple Brent Harris, an investment manager, and Beth Edwards Harris, an architectural historian. Designed by Richard Neutra, considered one of the most influential Modernist architects of the 20th century, the Kaufmann Desert House was originally commissioned and owned by Pittsburgh department store owner Edgar J Kaufmann, Sr. The property was built in 1946 as somewhere to retreat to during the cold Pennsylvania winters.
History
And each time, any potential buyer will go ‘Ahhh, yes.’ It’s the defining view of the house,” says Bisignano. And to give the open look and feel of the home’s bolder-strewn grounds back in 1947, the Harrises bought several adjoining lots to more than double the size of the homesite to 2.18 acres. “I think more than 300 magazine articles have been written about this truly remarkable restoration. It set the gold standard for the renovation of a landmark property like this,” explains Bisignano. Here, we spotlight the stunning Kaufmann Desert House located in Palm Springs, California, as part of The National's International Property of the Week series. The Kaufmann Desert House inspired the work of famed architectural photographer Julius Shulman and Slim Aarons, who was known for his images of the American high life.
Eight mid-century houses that prove Palm Springs is a modernist mecca
The north and south wings are the most public parts of the house that connect to the central living area. The south wing consists of a covered walkway that leads from the center of the house to the carport. Twenty-five million dollars is certainly a hefty price tag, but then again, the buyer is stepping back into the past, into a profound moment of architectural history. Consider the second-story, open-air gloriette—a French word translating to "little glory"—where views of the San Jacinto Mountains are particularly heady. Multiple levels were forbidden when Neutra was building the Desert Kaufmann House, but the gloriette, reached via an outdoor staircase, is a clever workaround—just one of Neutra’s subtle innovations.
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Neutra's iconic Kaufmann House in Palm Springs hits the market for $25 million - The Architect's Newspaper
Neutra's iconic Kaufmann House in Palm Springs hits the market for $25 million.
Posted: Tue, 20 Oct 2020 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Wright was very offended at his choice, but Kaufmann was looking for something that fit his new desert landscape and felt Neutra would be a stronger choice. The main outdoor rooms are enclosed by a vertical aluminum fins that offer flexible protection against sandstorms and intense heat. In the west wing there is a kitchen, service spaces and rooms for staff which can be reached by a deck “breezway”. A decade after Edgar Kaufmann hired Frank Lloyd Wright to design the famous Fallingwater House in Bear Run, PA, the same Kaufmann wanted to build a house on the West Coast. But Dr. Harris, who worked toward her doctorate in architectural history while restoring the Kaufmann House, said she believed an auction would further the preservationist cause. The property was also enlarged to suit Neutra's vision for a desert retreat, and replacement stonework was mined from a quarry in Utah to match the original construction.
Its prominent features include slatted metal walls, which create breezy indoor-outdoor spaces alongside landscaping with large boulders, cacti, palms and sandy gardens. Many of the walls of the structure are made of floor-to-ceiling glass, allowing for untrammeled views of the desert scenery. The design of the house is quite simplistic; at the center of the house is the living room and the dining room that is the heart of the house and the family activity. The rest of the house branches out like a pinwheel in each of the cardinal directions. From the center of the house each wing that branches out has its own specific function; however, the most important aspects of the house are oriented east/west while the supporting features are oriented north/south.
These photographs do more than merely document the structure; they encapsulate Neutra’s vision of blending architecture with its environment, creating a visual narrative that communicates the essence of modernism to a global audience. Shulman’s ability to capture the elegance and tranquil beauty of the Kaufmann House helped cement its place in architectural history and inspired a generation of architects and designers to embrace the principles of modernism. Commissioned by Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr., the Pittsburgh department store magnate who had commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright about a decade earlier to build Fallingwater in Pennsylvania, the house was designed as a desert retreat from harsh winters. Constructed as a series of horizontal planes that seem to float over glass walls, the house seems to absorb the mood of the surrounding desert.
Behind the sandstone-faced wall Neutra placed a car garage and a secondary entrance into the western wing of the house, which contained the service spaces and servant quarters furthest west. Kaufmann, a notorious womanizer, completed the desert house as his marriage disintegrated. In the early 1950's, Liliane Kaufmann commissioned Wright to design another house in Palm Springs on the north side of the property where the Neutra house sits. Named "Boulder House," as confirmed by Edgar Kaufmann Jr. in his book "Fallingwater Rising" this commission was to be a home for Liliane Kaufmann who could no longer live with her philandering husband. It is said that Wright put both Edgar and Lilianne's names on the rendering in a vain attempt to regain Edgar's patronage.
After the Harrises divorced, the home was supposedly sold on May 13, 2008, for US$15 million at auction by Christie's as a part of a high-profile sale of contemporary art. The sale later fell through, as the bidder breached terms of the purchase agreement. During the extensive renovation by Marmol Radziner in the 1990s, the original concrete and silica sand floors were patched. Neutra’s International Style architecture is heightened by the San Jacinto Mountains above.
The Kaufmann Desert House is arranged like a pinwheel, with various wings radiating from the central living and dining room. Vertical aluminum louvers, providing protection against the harsh desert heat, are also a striking design feature of the Kaufmann Desert House. “In 2023, California had only 24 units of housing available and affordable for every 100 extremely low-income households,” BHHI researchers noted in a recent study. The latest federal estimates show more than 181,000 Californians were unhoused in 2023, with nearly 70% living on the streets. “It’s at this point during a home tour that I pull out the Slim Aarons “Poolside Gossip” photo.
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