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In 1993, the house’s current owner hired Los Angeles architectural firm Marmol and Radziner to return the house to its original state by relying on many painstakingly researched original materials and production processes. The Kaufmann House achieved iconic status through its architectural innovation and the lens of Julius Shulman, one of the most influential architectural photographers of the 20th century. Shulman’s photographs of the house, particularly the striking image taken at twilight with the interior lit and the pool reflecting the house and sky, have become defining images of modernist architecture. 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.
For a Cool $25 Million, You Can Buy Richard Neutra’s Most Famous Palm Springs Home
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. 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.
Five Things You Should Know About the Kaufmann Desert House
The house was initially built with a pool house, which has now been replaced with a pavilion that serves as a convenient entertainment center and kitchen. It is one of the most important examples of International Style architecture in the United States and the only one still in private hands. The home was commissioned by Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr., a Pittsburgh department store tycoon as a desert retreat from harsh winters.
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Behind the fireplace a passageway leads along another full-height glass wall to the eastern wing, which accommodates a master bedroom with bathroom, a dressing area, and a small study or den. A covered, outdoor walkway leads from the enclosed living area along a low water channel, or lily pond, to two guest bedrooms in the northern wing. Except for a series of vertical, pivoting aluminum louvers that are mounted above the water feature and offer, when turned into the closed position, some protection from the winds blowing down the mountain on the western side, the passageway is open to the elements.
The east wing of the house is connected to the living space by a north-facing internal gallery and houses a master bedroom suite. To the west, a kitchen, service spaces, and staff quarters are reached by a covered breezeway. In the northern wing, another open walkway passes along an exterior patio, leading to two guest rooms. The variety of spaces, ranging from enclosed to semi-enclosed to open, transcends any traditional distinction between indoors and outdoors in favor of a continuous, human-made environment. Moreover, the new environment was designed so that its occupants could fine-tune its features for physical comfort, most notably the radiant heating and cooling systems for the concrete surfaces of the outside terraces. Lastly, within the hostile desert surroundings the new environment was to be a safe one as exemplified by the mirrors Neutra installed in unexpected places, which allowed the inhabitants to scan their immediate surroundings.
Materials
Neutra built the modern, flat-roofed home for Edgar J. Kaufmann, a Pittsburgh department store mogul who also commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright for Fallingwater in Pennsylvania. And Beth Harris, carefully restored the building to the best of their abilities (Beth is an architectural historian). This included persuading a closed quarry in Utah to let them source additional stone to match the original and sourcing custom materials like Neutra's specific mix of concrete for the floors. Another essential feature of the home is the use of the “wings.” The house is prominently focused on being east- and west- concentrated for sunset and sunrise purposes.
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 Kaufmann House, or Kaufmann Desert House, in Palm Springs, California, was designed by Richard Neutra in 1946. It was one of the last domestic projects conducted by the architect, but it is also arguably one of his most famous homes.
Kaufmann Desert House
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.
His career took off and his work in Southern California began after an old classmate, Rudolph Schindler, encouraged him to move there. Schindler is best known for 1929’s Lovell House in Los Angeles, which is believed to be one of the first steel-framed homes in America and is celebrated for its extensive glass windows and cable-suspended balconies. Not surprisingly, Richard Neutra became famous for designing his houses in the International Style, using a great deal of glass and metal in his projects—just what Kaufmann was after to better observe the desert environs. Following the end of World War II, he was commissioned for the Kaufmann house, and it later became a beloved piece of the renowned International Style architecture he was known for. To give greater visibility to the renowned quality of “floating” in the design, the structural system combines wood and steel so that the amount of vertical supports necessary, limited in any case, is reduced.
The Kaufmann House is an early example, and one of the clearest, of a post–World War II southern Californian modernism that closely integrates the building with its environment. For Neutra, however, the house also symbolized a universal type of dwelling for difficult-to-settle environments. Designed by architect Richard Neutra for department store king Edgar J. Kaufmann in 1946 the Southern California home has a history of famous owners, including musician Barry Manilow. When the Harrises decided to end their marriage, they faced a dilemma regarding the disposition of the house.
Vertical aluminum louvers, providing protection against the harsh desert heat, are also a striking design feature of the Kaufmann Desert House. The gloriette, a serene outdoor room above the house, was Richard Neutra’s creative way of bypassing zoning codes that forbade two-story structures. Liliane reclines like a Henry Moore sculpture to block the pool light in Julius Shulman’s photograph, but the credit went to Grace Kaufmann, Edgar’s second wife.PHOTO COURTESY © J. Yet far from being a passive prop, Liliane was an equal to her husband in terms of ambition, culture, and creativity and as an advocate of modern design, connoisseur of the arts, and philanthropist. 10 years after the design of Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright in Bear Run, Pennsylvania, the Kaufmann’s were looking for a residence that could be used to escape the cold winters of the northeast, which would primarily be used during January.
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.
“All the residents get membership to the Mission Hills Country Club” in Rancho Mirage, save for supplemental golf fees. This record-setting Montage price includes upgraded spaces, complete with an inviting stone-clad pool deck and built-in fire pit, and an interior lot away from the busy roads. “You’d be surprised at [the number of] transactions of people who are upsizing or downsizing in Montage because they love it so much,” she adds. Its low-slung horizontal profile, flat roof with deep eaves, and elegant structural elements including steel posts reference precedents of desert modernism while incorporating state-of-the-art amenities. Nolan describes the earthy yet luxe materials as “organic with natural finishes, stone, and wood,” an aesthetic that reflects a move away from previously trending glossy finishes. At the time of sale, it was the second highest price-per-square-foot property ever sold at the club.
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