The hooded fireplace, finished in mustard yellow tile. (Photo by Brian Rawlings of Desert Views Photography)
The kitchen. (Photo by Brian Rawlings of Desert Views Photography)
The primary bedroom. (Photo by Brian Rawlings of Desert Views Photography)
The barbecue bar. (Photo by Brian Rawlings of Desert Views Photography)
A poolside view of the house. (Photo by Brian Rawlings of Desert Views Photography)
Designed by modernist architect William Krisel, this Palm Springs butterfly-roof home is on the market for $1.795 million. (Photo by Brian Rawlings of Desert Views Photography)
A Palm Springs home by modernist architect William Krisel that boasts an extended V-shaped butterfly roof is on the market for $1.795 million.
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Designed for the Alexander Construction Co. in the Twin Palms neighborhood and completed in 1958, the 1,760-square-foot house has three bedrooms and two bathroom. A bright, playful mid-century modern palette and natural materials are found throughout.
Records show the property last traded hands for $989,000 in September 2018, and the current owners have since updated it.
Chris Menrad, the co-listing agent with TTK Represents at Compass and co-author of the 2016 book “William Krisel’s Palm Springs: The Language of Modernism,” said Twin Palms marked the Alexanders’ first Palm Springs tract and they gave Krisel free rein.
“It’s a really important historical neighborhood for this pure post-and-beam modern style that other builders and developers began to mimic,” Menrad said. “It showed how you could bring really good architecture to the mass market at a good price.”
In those days, glass walls looked onto the rugged desert landscape and mountains, which Menrad said were an inspiration for the home’s most famous feature.
The butterfly house sits on a nearly quarter-acre lot behind a manicured lawn dotted with towering palms and crossed by round concrete pavers of varying sizes. One wing of the house forms the carport, while the larger extends over the public and private living areas.
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A slatted pergola canopy throws shade onto the pathway to the front door.
Inside, the kitchen features large-format, glossy light blue backsplash tiles, complemented by sleek, white countertops and a breakfast bar. It opens to the great room where a Sputnik chandelier marks the dining area, while the hooded fireplace, finished in mustard yellow tiles, serves as the focal point in the living area.
White walls, beamed tongue-and-groove ceilings and new terrazzo-tile flooring are lit by floor-to-ceiling glass windows, which connect the interior to the backyard pool, spa, patio and covered barbecue bar.
Menrad shares the listing with Keith Markovitz, also of TTK Represents at Compass.
Krisel designed thousands of homes for the Alexanders, including the butterfly-roof houses that helped define Palm Springs’ architectural integrity. One of his most famous designs was the futuristic Palm Springs home created for Robert Alexander, co-founder of the building company.
Look Magazine splashed it across its pages in 1962 as the House of Tomorrow, but it later became associated with Elvis and Priscilla Presley when they honeymooned there in 1967.
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Krisel died in June 2017 at 92.