Historic Aluminaire House to be reassembled in permanent home in Palm Springs
The historic Aluminaire House, the United States’ first all-metal house, will make Palm Springs its permanent home starting Tuesday, with future plans for inclusion in the city’s redesigned Downtown Park. KESQ and CBS Local 2’s Jeremy Chen is at the Palm Springs Visitor’s Center where the Aluminaire House is being displayed Tuesday morning.
Disassembled and shipped from New York City, the house is set to arrive in Palm Springs just in time for Modernism Week, where it will be showcased alongside other examples of mid-century modern design during the annual 10-day event.
The house’s arrival was celebrated at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Palm Springs Visitors Center, located at 2901 N. Palm Canyon Drive. Palm Springs Mayor Robert Moon, Smoke Tree Ranch COO Tracy Conrad and Modernism Week board member Mark Davis are expected to speak at the event.
Built in 1931 by architects Albert Frey and A. Lawrence Kocher, whose designs defined much of Palm Springs’ architecture, the home switched hands several times for the next half-century before being donated to the New York Institute of Technology in 1987.
In 2011, the house was disassembled and transferred to the Aluminaire House Foundation, which has since raised funds to facilitate the house’s cross-country move.
Though a completion date for Palm Springs’ proposed one-acre Downtown Park remains in flux, organizers envision that the home will one day be reassembled and open to the public for tours as a permanent fixture in the city.
“We are thrilled that this day has finally arrived. Our committee has worked passionately over the last two years to have Aluminaire shipped to Palm Springs and will continue the work required to have it displayed permanently in Palm Springs and available to the public,” Davis said. “Now that the house has arrived in Palm Springs, we are one step closer in achieving our goal of reassembling it in a location that will be a year-
found attraction and will significantly contribute to Palm Springs’ thriving architectural tourism focus,” he said. “Once Aluminaire is reassembled, the full arc of Albert Frey’s career in America, from 1931 to 1986, can be
experienced.”
During Modernism Week, which runs from Feb. 16-26, the house will be on display daily, and also featured during a Feb. 25 panel discussion moderated by NPR’s Susan Stamberg, titled “Albert Frey’s 1931 Aluminare House.”
A reception fundraiser will follow the panel.
