Originally designed by architect Richard Neutra in 1946, the Kaufmann House is located in Palm Springs, California. Fifty years after the house was completed, the restoration returns the residence to its initial form, size, and aesthetic integrity. An important challenge of the restoration was to re-create the dialogue between nature and sculpture, a particularly difficult undertaking in an area that has grown from a sparsely inhabited, rugged desert into a suburban residential neighborhood.
The Kaufmann House is perhaps most widely recognized in photographer Julius Shulman’s 1947 twilight image looking into the house from the outside pool area. Along with Shulman’s other historic photographs, this image was an invaluable guide in determining the original characteristics of this modern monument’s form, texture and color.
Using archival materials, including Neutra’s drawings of the details of the house from UCLA’s Special Collections Department in the University Research Library, the condition of the house was secured and brought back to its architectural glory.
As the restoration progressed, an emphasis was placed on meticulously reproducing the original design and simultaneously maintaining a level of craftsmanship equivalent to that of the original construction.
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