Richard Neutra - Kaufmann House - Master Architects - International Style on Waymarking.com

470 West Vista de Chino

Pittsburgh, PA, department store owner Edgar Kaufmann’s son lobbied hard for Frank Lloyd Wright to be hired for the desert house too, but Kaufmann Sr. had not been impressed by Taliesin West (visit link) and wanted someone he thought could better capture the Palm Springs lifestyle.

Sited on a 200 by 300 ft. lot with spectacular views of the mountains and desert, the 3,800 sq. ft house forms a cross of two intersecting axes. Kaufmann flew in stone masons who had worked on Fallingwater (visit link) to erect the walls and chimney and like Fallingwater cork re-appears as an interior finish material for the kitchen countertop and floors and inside the showers. Water played an important role in softening the design and providing a connection to nature . Space is modulated by minor changes in ceiling heights and sliding glass walls and removal of vertical support from its obvious location to a position outside the implied space. The house was immortalized in a moody photograph by architectural photographer Julius Shulman (visit link) .

The Kaufmanns enjoyed the house from 1947 to 1949 before Liliane Kaufmann passed away in 1950. After her death Kaufmann Sr. spent more time at this house and died there in April 1955. The house sat vacant for eight years and went through three owners and numerous alterations before the current owners began an intense restoration in 1993 (visit link) . The house is a Private Residence, but I had the opportunity to tour it a part of the pre-conference tour for the 2005 Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy conference.

Unfortunately, the couple that restored the house is getting divorced and will be putting the house on the auction block in the Spring of 2008 (visit link)

Architect: Richard Neutra Building Type: Residential Date Built: 1946-47 City building is located in: Palm Springs, CA

Visit Instructions:
To help give a different perspective and to better the waymark for future visitors please tell us about your visit and upload a favorite photograph you took of the structure.

Although visiting this waymark in person is the only thing required of you to receive credit for your visit, taking the time to add this information is greatly appreciated.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   09/04/2020 AZTech visited it 12/11/2018 Darmok and Jalad wrote comment for it 01/02/2016 '39 Geezer visited it 03/27/2014 merlot visited it 04/01/2010 Elmbaek visited it 01/15/2008 PeterNoG visited it 12/04/2007 Hikenutty wrote comment for it

View all visits/logs