By Catherine Laughlin | Houzz
As a builder, Avian Rogers knows a diamond in the rough when she sees one. Where some saw just a decaying post-and-beam house, she saw the vast potential left by the home’s designer, famed 1950s architect William Krisel, whose Palm Springs homes are noted for their high-quality construction, large windows and simple floor plans that seamlessly integrate with the outdoors.
Last year, Rogers, an independent contractor in California, spent upward of $200,000 (not counting labor costs) restoring this gem to its present glory. “I wanted to create a soulful, primal kind of vibe that was true to its classic design and embraces the surrounding desert and the San Jacinto Mountains,” she says. A Palm Springs Shopping Guide for Design Lovers.
Houzz at a Glance
- Who lives here: Avian Rogers, president of Moderne Builders, her partner and two dogs
- Location: Palm Springs, California
- Size: 1,600 square feet; three bedrooms, two baths
- Year built: Late 1950s
- That’s interesting: The house is in the Twin Palms neighborhood and is one of 2,500 tract homes designed by architect William Krisel that still exist today.
BEFORE: Rogers is not just a contractor; she approaches her projects with a designer’s eye. She’s also a longtime midcentury aficionado and has restored several similarly built houses in her neighborhood.
Four materials were used extensively in the house: concrete, steel, wood and glass. Its roof slopes slightly; builders of midcentury homes embraced this architectural element after homes with flat roofs had problems with leaks.
Sections of the facade were bounded with steel grating and a block wall that prohibited natural light from filtering inside the premises, making the house dark and gloomy. There was also a blacktop
circular driveway that Rogers despised.
AFTER: Rogers ripped out the circular driveway and installed a courtyard. For privacy, she added a burnished block wall.
After reinforcing the front with six-foot beams, Rogers coated the garage with crystal white stucco. Clean styling extends to the concrete walkways, LED lighting and custom steel planters.
Rogers remained true to the home’s heritage throughout, decorating it with a mix of vintage pieces and newer finds that embrace a midcentury attitude.
She lengthened a foyer closet about a foot and transformed it into a nook, large enough to house a white cabinet that holds leashes and toys for Rogers’ dogs. An abstract print hangs above. A white vase, two green vases and a metal torso picked up at an art gallery years ago add interest.
On the far left, a yellow and white lacquer cabinet from Ikea’s Besta system provides additional storage.
Nook area paint: Water’s Edge, Benjamin Moore; paint throughout unless otherwise noted: Droplets, Benjamin Moore; cabinet: West Elm; art print: Crate & Barrel
To the right of the entry sits the main living space. Pine tongue-and-groove ceilings and concrete floors flow throughout. The windows were upgraded with double-pane glass.
Two blue Tulip chairs pair nicely with a gray sectional. A painting bought from an artist friend hangs above the sofa. Mix and Match Chairs for a Contemporary Twist on a Classic Design.
The original inside-outside stacked-stone chimney adds texture and another layer of boldness. While the chimney’s outside facade was left as is, white paint had to be sandblasted off the inside stones.
Positioned on the cowhide rug is a coffee table, one of Rogers’ favorite pieces. She found it at a vintage shop in Northern California and restored it with metal etching. “It’s really very special,” she says.
Another favorite piece is the metal floor lamp at the far end of the room, which Rogers picked up at an antique shop in Los Angeles. “I searched for a long time for something with the right scale and right colors,” she says.
Wallpaper hangers installed the huge black and white landscape mural that begins on the far wall and extends throughout the house.
Sofa: Blueprint furniture; cowhide rug: Sunland Home Decor; chairs: Dot and Bo (now closed)
Rogers removed a wall between the dining and kitchen areas, which required the wiring to be rerouted through the back walls. The walnut-hued upper cabinets are from Ikea’s Besta line, and the bottom cabinets were installed after being rescued from another job. The stainless steel Jenn-Air appliances are new, and the countertops are Caesarstone. Vases, pottery and orange stools (which Rogers says are comfortable too) add pop.
She wanted a round table that would easily seat six and was smitten with the industrial look of this table’s steel base and marble top. The Lucite chairs keep the look straightforward. Hanging above is a light fixture that Rogers says reminds her of an atomic branch. A wooden sculpture from H.D. Buttercup in Los Angeles is displayed on a Martinsville black lacquer console found online.
Dining table: Crate & Barrel; replica of Lindsey Adelman chandelier: Replica Lights; stools: Calligaris; Caesarstone color: Nougat
When Rogers remodeled the home, she tore off the drywall that covered the clerestory windows in the master bedroom. She also ripped out an atrium at the rear of the room that was “unwelcoming and collecting spiders and dust,” she says.
The room is now an oasis of serenity that carries into the bath, displaying an eclectic mix of furnishings and accessories. A walnut bed from Blue Dot grounds the room and is flanked by vintage nightstands found at a garage sale and lamps from an art sale. Give Your Book, Alarm Clock and Reading Lamp a New Nightstand to Call Home.
The mural from the living room continues on the far right wall of the bedroom, connecting the two areas.
Gray rug: Overstock; zebra chair: Crate & Barrel; white leather bench: Overstock; wall paint: Golden Delicious, Benjamin Moore
BEFORE: Living in the desert means spending a lot of time outside. But the backyard, neglected for years, was no picnic.
AFTER: Rogers restored the pool and added a spa that’s framed with shimmery blue glass tiles.
Her team installed three 5-foot-long commercial sliding glass doors that open to the backyard — they span two-thirds of the rectangular house. Rogers wanted a more seamless look, so the solution was to install them just outside the posts.
“They make a bold statement,” she says.
There’s also a sliding glass door leading from the kitchen to the yard and side patio. Walkways are concrete.
Patio chaise: Ikea; table: Crate & Barrel
Rogers tore down a gazebo and constructed a new patio as an extension of the home. Several seating areas enable her and her partner to entertain in numbers.
At the rear sits a 10-foot steel sculpture that had been in a now-shuttered Palm Springs restaurant. Workers had to mount steel legs onto the piece to embed it into the ground.
Burnished block surrounds a gas fire pit. Pine tongue-and-groove ceiling panels were also installed on the new canopy and concrete patio.
Yellow woven chairs: CB2; table: Ikea; pillows and aqua chairs: Crate & Barrel; candle holder: World Market
The house was initially bought as a vacation home, but Rogers loved it and the desert lifestyle so much, she now lives here year-round.
Last February, a street was named after architect Krisel in Rogers’ neighborhood, where his Modernist designs live on.
“These houses are something special,” Rogers says. “They are the purest example of midcentury architecture.”
