Architecture
Modern Architecture
Great Designers
Diamond in the Rough: Albert Frey’s Desert Masterpiece
Walk with us through the architect’s iconic Palm Springs home — boulder and all — and find out how it came to be
I went to Palm Springs in February expecting to enjoy the exuberant midcentury homes on display for Modernism Week. What really caught my eye was something very different: a modest house perched on a rocky slope on the outskirts of town, designed by architect Albert Frey.
A giant boulder original to the site separates the home’s living and dining areas from the bedroom. Photo from Dan Chavkin
Architect Albert Frey is pictured at the Palm Springs home he designed. Photo by Don Buckner
A Modernist Moves West
Albert Frey’s career took an abrupt turn when he moved to the desert of Southern California. Frey, who was born in Switzerland in 1903, had achieved fame when he, along with A. Lawrence Kocher, Architectural Record’s managing editor at the time, designed the Aluminaire House in New York in 1931. That all-metal house was designed to provide low-cost housing for the burgeoning American middle class. While innovative, the boxy house shared many qualities with Le Corbusier’s early work, particularly the Villa Savoye, a design that Frey assisted on.
The luck of receiving a modest commercial building commission in Palm Springs brought the young architect west in the early 1930s. The office building he and design partner John Porter Clark built was the first modern building constructed in Palm Springs. At the end of World War II, Palm Springs was in the midst of a building boom thanks to its popularity as a winter getaway for the stars of Hollywood and the wealthy of the East Coast.
Frey’s experience as a modernist versed in the desert environment perfectly positioned him to design homes for the open-minded elites moving to the area. He also benefited from being part of a small circle of renowned modernist architects working in the desert, including Donald Wexler, John Lautner and Richard Neutra, who competed and pushed one another to extend the boundaries of modern design.
A Modernist Moves West
Albert Frey’s career took an abrupt turn when he moved to the desert of Southern California. Frey, who was born in Switzerland in 1903, had achieved fame when he, along with A. Lawrence Kocher, Architectural Record’s managing editor at the time, designed the Aluminaire House in New York in 1931. That all-metal house was designed to provide low-cost housing for the burgeoning American middle class. While innovative, the boxy house shared many qualities with Le Corbusier’s early work, particularly the Villa Savoye, a design that Frey assisted on.
The luck of receiving a modest commercial building commission in Palm Springs brought the young architect west in the early 1930s. The office building he and design partner John Porter Clark built was the first modern building constructed in Palm Springs. At the end of World War II, Palm Springs was in the midst of a building boom thanks to its popularity as a winter getaway for the stars of Hollywood and the wealthy of the East Coast.
Frey’s experience as a modernist versed in the desert environment perfectly positioned him to design homes for the open-minded elites moving to the area. He also benefited from being part of a small circle of renowned modernist architects working in the desert, including Donald Wexler, John Lautner and Richard Neutra, who competed and pushed one another to extend the boundaries of modern design.
This photo, taken from a hiking trail above the house, illustrates how the roof’s edge complements the land’s slope.
Frey Builds His Dream House
Frey spent years working in the desert perfecting his craft and experimenting with new materials and the desert environment before setting out to build his masterpiece in 1964. It was a modest-size house he would spend the rest of his life in.
Site-sensitive design. Frey challenged himself by choosing a rocky, almost unbuildable lot on a steeply pitched piece of land on the lower slopes of Mount San Jacinto. Rather than having a preconceived idea of what the house could be, he spent months surveying the property in detail, studying how the sun moved in the sky, the rock outcropping on the property and the distant views. He mocked up the outlines of the roof on site with rods and string. In the end, he distilled the design to a few primary elements that included leaving an enormous granite boulder intact inside the house.
The roof plane, supported on slender steel beams, seems to float above the concrete terraces. The roof slope exactly mimics the slope of the surrounding land, ensuring harmony with it.
Frey Builds His Dream House
Frey spent years working in the desert perfecting his craft and experimenting with new materials and the desert environment before setting out to build his masterpiece in 1964. It was a modest-size house he would spend the rest of his life in.
Site-sensitive design. Frey challenged himself by choosing a rocky, almost unbuildable lot on a steeply pitched piece of land on the lower slopes of Mount San Jacinto. Rather than having a preconceived idea of what the house could be, he spent months surveying the property in detail, studying how the sun moved in the sky, the rock outcropping on the property and the distant views. He mocked up the outlines of the roof on site with rods and string. In the end, he distilled the design to a few primary elements that included leaving an enormous granite boulder intact inside the house.
The roof plane, supported on slender steel beams, seems to float above the concrete terraces. The roof slope exactly mimics the slope of the surrounding land, ensuring harmony with it.
The concrete floor slab steps down to create three levels and follows the existing contours of the land. This perspective sketch shows the highest level as having the dining and work area; the middle with the living room and sleeping area; and the lowest level with the terrace and swimming pool, which also serve as the roof of the carport.
The terraced design not only creates a minimal disturbance of the natural slope of the land, but it also was the only practical solution, since getting heavy excavation equipment up to the site would have been prohibitively expensive.
The terraced design not only creates a minimal disturbance of the natural slope of the land, but it also was the only practical solution, since getting heavy excavation equipment up to the site would have been prohibitively expensive.
No house in Palm Springs is complete without an aqua blue swimming pool, even on this steep rocky site.
Climate-sensitive design. The house was carefully tuned to the desert climate. The land and roof slope down to the south. A generous overhang on the south side of the house acts like the brim of a hat pulled low, shielding the house from the punishing summer sun, allowing direct sun in only during the winter months. The glass-walled bedroom faces east to receive the early-morning sun, while the western part of the house, facing the hot afternoon sun, is enclosed with solid walls and few windows.
Photo from Dan Chavkin
Even the window treatments take their cue from the climate. To improve the performance of the home’s curtains, Frey sandwiched a layer of Mylar between two layers of drapery cloth to help keep the heat out.
Even the window treatments take their cue from the climate. To improve the performance of the home’s curtains, Frey sandwiched a layer of Mylar between two layers of drapery cloth to help keep the heat out.
Innovative materials. Frey brought his years of experience working with materials more often associated with industrial application. In earlier projects, he had used exposed wood framing but learned how poorly it fared in a desert climate.
Frey celebrates each material by leaving it exposed to view. The foundation is built of exposed concrete block, with the stepped concrete slab resting on top of that. A structural steel frame rises from the concrete slab. Resting on top of the steel framework is a corrugated metal roof that is left unfinished to achieve a rusted patina matching the nearby rock outcroppings.
This material is more commonly associated with utilitarian structures, but Frey proved it would also be perfect for his exquisitely detailed building. The interior of the roof cavity is insulated with conventional batt insulation. To cover the insulation, Frey added a ceiling of perforated painted aluminum, which not only hides the insulation but softens the acoustics of the room.
Frey celebrates each material by leaving it exposed to view. The foundation is built of exposed concrete block, with the stepped concrete slab resting on top of that. A structural steel frame rises from the concrete slab. Resting on top of the steel framework is a corrugated metal roof that is left unfinished to achieve a rusted patina matching the nearby rock outcroppings.
This material is more commonly associated with utilitarian structures, but Frey proved it would also be perfect for his exquisitely detailed building. The interior of the roof cavity is insulated with conventional batt insulation. To cover the insulation, Frey added a ceiling of perforated painted aluminum, which not only hides the insulation but softens the acoustics of the room.
The galley kitchen, measuring only 7 feet wide, makes the most of its limited size. A narrow band of windows above head height brightens the kitchen while providing wall space for cabinets, keeping the kitchen out of view from the home’s entrance.
Corrugated fiberglass, a material more often used as inexpensive roofing on garden sheds, covers the upper and lower cabinets. The panels slide open to avoid the inconvenience of hinged doors in such a narrow space.
The stainless steel countertop has an integral sink and waste opening.
Corrugated fiberglass, a material more often used as inexpensive roofing on garden sheds, covers the upper and lower cabinets. The panels slide open to avoid the inconvenience of hinged doors in such a narrow space.
The stainless steel countertop has an integral sink and waste opening.
Frey’s rugged steel and concrete construction clearly marks him as a modernist. He left the exterior of the roof and steel beams unfinished, as well as the concrete floor and aluminum window frames.
For other materials, he celebrated the natural palette of bold desert colors. The corrugated aluminum siding is painted a sage green, the corrugated metal ceiling is the restful blue of the desert sky, and the curtains that define the bedroom are the yellow of the native Encelia blossom.
For other materials, he celebrated the natural palette of bold desert colors. The corrugated aluminum siding is painted a sage green, the corrugated metal ceiling is the restful blue of the desert sky, and the curtains that define the bedroom are the yellow of the native Encelia blossom.
Small and beautiful. For many of the pioneering modernist architects, their best work is often their more modest-sized projects, especially their houses. Frey’s house measures only 800 square feet and is one of the smallest homes he built, yet probably his best.
The economy in size is achieved by making the main space multipurpose. The living areas and the bedroom are in a single space. In a brilliant move, Frey used the giant boulder inside the house to create separation between them.
Photo from David Glomb
The dining table doubled as Frey’s drafting table. Only the kitchen and bathroom are enclosed, on the west side of the house.
Visiting the Frey II House: Arrangements to visit the Frey II House can be made through the Palm Springs Art Museum. More info
Learn about more iconic homes’ history and architecture
The dining table doubled as Frey’s drafting table. Only the kitchen and bathroom are enclosed, on the west side of the house.
Visiting the Frey II House: Arrangements to visit the Frey II House can be made through the Palm Springs Art Museum. More info
Learn about more iconic homes’ history and architecture
