Esoteric Survey

I was able to get a lot closer to the Walter S White Wilcockson house in Indio.  For background on White and the house, see my previous post . As mentioned before, there was an estate sale at the house. I showed up several hours after the sale started to get a look inside the house without the crowd. I did not see the "Calder" mobile that was advertised but I have my doubts. Are you ready for the inside?  Are you sure? Here is what it looks like behind the that glorious apex. The 1980's were not kind to this house.  Nothing a lot of sledgehammering couldn't fix. I dropped this in on the other post, but I should probably mention it again. The latest word is that the house was purchased by a developer who is planning to demolish the house. This happened after the church who was planning on incorporating it into their new campus decided to scale back their project. This decision was made after the City of Indio would not let them have access to the site off Avenue 49.  ...

  The Max Wilcockson House by Walter S White  Walter S. White (1919-2002) was in the Palm Springs area from about 1948 to 1960. The architect, industrial designer, inventor and builder was born in San Bernardino. He worked for his father's construction company and then was a tool designer at an airplane factory during WWII. White returned to architecture in 1947 with and worked with John Porter Clark and Albert Frey. He also worked in the offices R.M. Schindler and Harwell Hamilton Harris. Not a bad group of architects I'd say. By the way, White had no formal architecture training. Source: UCSB , Walter White, architect, “Walter White: Alexander house (Palm Springs, Calif.),” UCSB ADC Omeka, accessed November 4, 2021, http://www.adc-exhibits.museum.ucsb.edu/items/show/579. Bates house (1953-1954) The house was built as a sculptor’s studio for Miles C. Bates. Also known as the Desert Wave House , it was in poor condition before a recent restoration by Stayner Architects, who al...