desert modern

I was first attractd to Palm Springs because it once was the playground of the stars. I wantd to know where JFK trystd with Marilyn   where Tom Neal shot his wife. it was later that I became fascinatd by the place as a musuem for a certain kind of architecture. the fabulous buildings of Frey & Lautner were to be found & admird.



on "Sunday Morning" today there was a segment on PS architecture. among the places shown was Neutra's 1946 Kaufmann House which my old pal Billy & I drove by a few years ago. & there was a quick clip in gorgeous b&w of the Kaufmanns   the Pittsburgh family who also lived at Falling Water. what fun to see a young Edgar Jr.

in the summer of 1972 I was visiting the New Jersey estate of Coburn Britton. other guests included Kaufmann & his partner. there was a grandeur abt the architecture professor. so it shockd his host when Edgar Jr. joind us for skinnydipping at Coby's pond. at the time I was just holding on to my 20s & the stately Mr. Kaufmann seemd quite old to me. well he was only 62 which now doesn't feel old to me at all. unfortunately I kept no notes abt our conversations so all that is lost. but I still keep the memory of Edgar Jr. delicately feeling his way into the pond & standing there in an unconscious homage to "September Morn."