Minimalist Masterwork In Palm Springs By Jim Jennings, 2.85M

Philip Ferrato October 26, 2023

Looking just as innovative and fresh as when it was built a decade ago, this residence by architect Jim Jennings is without parallel in Palm Springs. Of course, there’s a long tradition of Modernism in Palm Springs, with groundbreaking architects like Albert Frey and Richard Neutra seeking new ways to build in the desert in materials like steel, aluminum and concrete. Later, informed by the rush for inexpensive housing directly after WWII and a need to shift industrial capabilities from war materials to consumer needs, architects and developers sought to use industrial techniques to deliver housing. Historically, the best known of these efforts were the Case Study Houses, but the impulse was not limited to the LA area. Like Wexler + Harrison’s innovative early 60s prototype steel houses in Palm Springs, Jenning’s 2013 Deepwell House project was fabricated off-site of a light gauge steel, then quickly assembled on an immaculately crafted but traditional concrete slab.

Photo Credit: Patrick Ketchum/Ketchum Photography

“Immaculate” is the key word here throughout, in a house that presents ordinary materials like steel and concrete block in the most extraordinary way, but also contains subtle echoes of Mies Van Der Rohe’s groundbreaking c1929 Barcelona Pavilion in its strict horizontal and vertical elements, the walled pool, and the slender polished uprights of the louvered trellis.

Photo Credit: Patrick Ketchum/Ketchum Photography

What We Love: The interior spaces are so elegant you almost don’t need furniture, except that every choice you make has to be the right one; In the sweeping entertaining space, the perforated steel panel ceiling delivers air conditioning as well as a flexible lighting system; with carefully framed views, Jennings has effectively screened out the visually noisy neighborhood.

Photo Credit: Patrick Ketchum/Ketchum Photography

Even the outdoor kitchen is exceptional.

Photo Credit: Patrick Ketchum/Ketchum Photography

The three bedrooms are more conventional spaces, each with its own secluded outdoor space. The primary suite, however, has an austere but sybaritic outdoor shower and tub.

Photo Credit: Patrick Ketchum/Ketchum Photography

More: Go to the listing for additional images and details. A unique opportunity to possess a significant example of Desert Modernism by a prominent architect, brought to market by TTK Represents at Compass.

See it in person– there’s an open house on Saturday October 28, 2023 from 11:00am to 2:00pm.