High Style from Woodson & Rummerfield

Living in the Moment

The Barlow House is an Alexander that had been completely renovated and restored to its original design by the previous owners. It is a fantastic mid-century modern home, the kind of pedigreed architecture that so captures the essences of Palm Springs. It has a very contemporary, forward look that is, somehow, still illustrative of the desert’s glory days of the 1950s and ‘60s. Like the rest of Palm Springs, the Barlow House is timeless and instantly recognizable.

When entering the house, a sense of calm comes over you. Our clients wanted the interior design to stay true to he house’s heritage, so we used a lot of clean lines, crisp architectural lighting, and white-on-white furniture. We softened the effect of floor-to-ceiling glass windows with flowing cotton drapery, also in white, that sways in the desert breeze and provides tantalizing glimpses of the sparkling pool beyond. The house is very minimal, uncluttered but not stark—there’s so much to tempt the eye. A lot of people strive for this kind of streamlined luxury in their homes, but are endlessly frustrated because they have too much stuff for living their daily lives. Since the Barlow House is a vacation home, it’s easier to keep the interior sparse and airy. It’s important for a vacation home to make space for relaxation and enjoyment of the moment instead of providing yet more everyday distractions, particularly in Palm Springs, where unattached breeziness is a lifestyle. People come here to relax, unwind, and enjoy a simpler way of life.

In keeping with the high style of the architecture, we outfitted the Barlow House with only high-design pieces by respected names such as Florence Knoll, Philippe Starck, and Fritz Hansen. To keep the look from becoming too serious, we added whimsical, true-to-era accessories, such as colored-glass vases clustered on a marble coffee table and mercury glass pieces, throughout the home; these pieces also provide punches of color and shine. These types of decorative objects keep the design authentic and are a staple of any Palm Springs modern house. A fluffy white shag rug anchors the Carrara marble coffee table in the living room and adds a tactile surprise to the otherwise smooth finish of the concrete floor.

Homes in Palm Springs are often a bit different from their owners’ homes in Los Angeles. That’s what makes these houses true destinations: out-of-the-ordinary experiences that remove you from daily routines and give you room to fully enjoy living in the moment.

Julius Shulman: A Day In The Life

One day, it was brought to the attention that Julius Shulman wanted to photograph the Barlow House. Shulman has photographed over seven decades worth of astounding indoor/outdoor architectural works by designers such as Charles Eames, Eero Saarinen, Craig Ellwood, Pierre Koenig, Richard Neutra, and William Wurster, for John Entenza’s Arts & Architecture magazine and the Case Study Houses program, among other projects. Shulman’s work has followed the pioneers of American modern design, especially those who brought new thinking techniques, and materials to post-war California house building. But in his 70-year career, he hadn’t had the opportunity to photograph much, if any, of Donald Wexler’s work on private residences. He had selected a handful of Wexler’s homes to photograph, and our project was one of them.

Shulman—spry as ever at age 94—and his crew drove up in a Volkswagen van to have a look at his muse. It was so incredible to meet Julius (who was partial to Buddy, our design dog); he photographed with the most skillful eye, still sharp and precise as ever. The Polaroids alone captured the magic and architectural wonder of the home in a way we had never seen on film. We still wonder how he did it. Luckily the photos he took of the Barlow House will be on exhibition in the Palm Springs Art Museum, a modernist institution, for all to see.

Excerpted from High Style by Ron Woodson and Jaime Rummerfield (Chronicle Books, November 2008).

Ron Woodson and Jaime Rummerfield are interior designers, co-owners of the boutique Woodson & Rummerfield’s House of Design in Los Angeles, as well as designers of fabrics, furniture and home goods. Their interior design clients include the House of Versace, John Travolta and Kelly Preston, Courtney Love, and Christina Aguilera.