Exclusive Historic Open House at Former “Grey Gardens of Palm Springs”

Contact ReInhabit at reinhabitoffice@gmail.com for open house reservations.

STRUKTR is excited to announce boutique real estate development firm, ReInhabit's, exclusive Historic Open House of the 1933 "Arthur K. Bourne Residence" in Palm Springs, designed by Wallace Neff.

The first-look, listed by KCRW's DnA as one of their 5 Design Things To Do This Week, takes place on Saturday June 11, 2016, from 5pm-9pm. Visitors will get an exclusive pre-renovation, tour of the property, designed by renowned Southern California architect Wallace Neff and currently undergoing careful restoration. 

The 9,500 square foot home, originally built for Bourne who was heir to a Singer sewing machine fortune, is designed in Neff’s classic “California Style” and features ten bedrooms and eleven bathrooms surrounding a swimming pool. Architectural historian and author Steve Vaught observes that the Bourne Residence “represents the start of Palm Springs becoming a famous international resort. It was because of houses like this." The home features a prelude to the Modern Architecture that would shortly become synonymous with Palm Springs: a wall of sliding glass doors out to the picturesque courtyard transforms the living room into an indoor-outdoor living space. “That was a very modern and very innovative feature at the time. You just don't see that in 1933," says Vaught. Neff previously designed a home for Bourne in the Los Angeles suburb of San Marino in 1925.

ReInhabit purchased the Bourne Residence in March 2016. The home had fallen into disrepair, and had come to be known as the “Grey Gardens” of Palm Springs. Restoration work has removed over 90,000 pounds of debris, including 7,500 sq. ft. of green carpet. Brett Waterman, a local Palm Springs  preservationist, has been amazed to witness the uncovering of the home’s original details. “There’s so much completely intact -- all the original tile is there, original fixtures, the hardware.” Other original features highlighted in the restoration include the home’s hardwood floors, fireplaces, spindle-turned Spanish doors, and a river rock wall surrounding the property. “ReInhabit is revealing the architectural qualities that still exist within the property that reflect what Neff originally envisioned,” says Waterman.

ReInhabit Founder, Rudy Dvorak, is regularly approached by investors, historians, and others desiring to collaborate with ReInhabit on its distinct projects. “We’ve had several offers to buy the Bourne Residence already. We never imagined how so many people would come out of the woodwork to look, talk, and inquire all things Neff and historical - we are considering a collaboration.”

The Trouble With Aging Into Historic Preservation

Professors in my Historic Preservation Masters Program lectured us time and again that the Preservation industry is an aging one, in desperate need of a youthful injection if it is to continue. During a Preservation PR class, canvassing websites for preservation organizations, most looked out of the 1990s. Text was haphazardly strewn about in large and tiny font sizes. There were multiple calls to action. Photos were small and randomly spaced. The closest thing to social media links were icons for Blogspot.

How do you take an industry, whose roots are in a bunch of old white ladies (I'm looking at you, Mount Vernon Ladies Association) getting together to save the home of an old white guy (oh hey, George Washington), and make it matter to younger generations? How can it modernize and engage?

It's all about context. 

Photo via Mt. Vernon Ladies Association

The National Trust for Historic Preservation started the This Place Matters campaign in 2008 to shine a spotlight on the historic places that matter in individuals' lives. Viewed as a success, the campaign made history and historic preservation personal. 

Photo via The National Trust For Historic Preservation

Other preservation organizations are creating events and initiatives that highlight the importance of history and preservation in a way that appeals across generations. Los Angeles' recent Night on Broadway comes to mind, creating a festival atmosphere designed to encourage historic preservation and revitalization of the city’s historic downtown theater district. But even with a cross-generational event like this, are attendees aware of the underlying cause represented? Has it been contextualized for them? Does it matter to them? 

If historic preservation and conservation groups think that starting a Facebook page means they can check off the 'modernize and engage' box, they’re wrong. Today, virtually everyone's grandmother has a Facebook page. In the world of social media outreach and engagement, organizations are going to have to, at least, one-up grandma. Even still, for organizations with website content that hasn't been updated since 2000 (or 2010), a Facebook page that few people engage with, or an Instagram with visually unappealing photos, they're failing the very demographic who can ensure their future - and preserve everyone's history. 

Convincing a new generation that this place matters?

STRUKTR tells stories of heritage, architecture, and preservation in a way that's relatable for a new generation.  Our blog content, videos, press releases, and copy are smart, form an emotional connection, and are sometimes (often) a little irreverent. Our streets, neighborhoods, buildings, and homes already have wonderful, curious stories to tell. So all of us readers and consumers connect with architecture -- a lot more than we even realize. Plus all of our work fits within a greater story, never a vacuum. It's about context. Work with STRUKTR today to bring your preservation initiatives to a new generation.

Night on Broadway celebration, Downtown Los Angeles. The festival was part of the larger Bringing Back Broadway initiative.