Tag: grace home furnishings

STYLE

Slim Aarons: from bombs to bombshells

In 1970, a jet-set photographer by the name of Slim called up a socialite in Palm Springs and said “I want to come over and do a pool shot. Call some friends over.” Slim chance they’d realize then, that history was in the making.

I went to a Modernism Week talk recently at the Annenberg Theatre entitled “Wait Until You See: Slim Aarons x Palm Springs.”  It was given by Shawn Waldron, author of  the new book “Slim Aarons: The Essential Collection.” He also wrote Slim Aarons “Style.”

“Slim Aarons: The Essential Collection” is a colossal and luxurious hard cover book.  One you want to leave on a coffee table or at least keep as part of your important books collection.  Especially if you love fashion, style and all that goes along with it.  The good life, with a capital “G.”

I always say, that aside from the home tours, parties and exhibits going on around Modernism Week; don’t overlook taking in one of the lectures. The informal talks are informative, interesting and significant to the story at hand.  You find out a lot more than you already know.

Shawn Waldron stands by his latest book.  At Grace Home Furnishings 02/23/24.   Photo: d. king

For starters, I always thought that high society photographer Slim Aarons only took pretty lifestyle photos.  However; we found out that he started off working as a photographer at West Point Military Academy and later as a combat photographer, following and documenting the horrors of World War II across Northern Africa and Europe.

After the war, Slim vowed to walk on the sunnier side of the street, opting to photograph girls not guns, bikinis instead of bombs. Good call.

With Nelda Linsk – now.  Beautiful & elegant as ever.

Last night I went to a cocktail party and book signing at Grace Home Furnishings (Grace is named after the owners’ black lab). The ambience was very inviting at one of the most stylish modern retail and custom design studios I’ve been to. Founded in 2000 by designers Michael Ostrow and Roger Stoker; providing furniture, art, photography and more, including in-house personalized interior design services.  I was talking with a woman who was extremely happy with the team who outfitted her home with “everything Grace.” Delicious canapes and cocktails were being passed around courtesy of Jake’s (a restaurant in the uptown design district).

Among the attendees were the two owners; Michael Ostrow and Roger Stoker, the author; Shawn Waldron, Designer Trina Turk, and Nelda Linsk; who of course was in the iconic Slim Aarons “Poolside Gossip” which the  photographer shot in 1970 at the Kaufmann House in Palm Springs. The photograph has had many reproductions and has since become as much a symbol of modernism as its setting.  You’ll see a print hanging in many homes here and there.  Almost every store in Palm Springs too.

Grace on the floor by a “PoolSide Gossip” print on the wall at Grace Home Furnishings . Photo: taken from their website.

No doubt you’ve seen the photo. Two attractive women sit in lounge chairs beside a teal-blue pool, looking fabulous and moneyed. A third, all legs and carefree attitude, strides toward them with a drink in her hand. In the background is a modern glass-and-stone house and purplish mountains. The landscape is idyllic. The sunlight is hazy and golden. You would live inside the photo if you could.  (this paragraph was taken from The New York Times).

That’s exactly what I was trying to do last night. Live inside the photo with my new friend (we were so busy gossiping and the conversation was so mesmerizing that I unfortunately forgot her name.)

In 1997, Mark Getty, the co-founder of Getty Images, visited Aarons in his home and bought Aarons’ entire archive. In 2017, filmmaker Fritz Mitchell released a documentary about Aarons, called Slim Aarons: The High Life.

Nelda Linsk was a longtime friend of Silm Aarons and owner of the Richard Neutra designed 1946 Kaufmann House. Nelda hosted the impromptu party where along with friends, Helen Dzo Dzo (Kaptur) and Lita Baron, she would become immortalized in the world-famous photo.

The 3,200-square-foot home was once owned by Barry Manilow and Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr.  

Palm Springs’s commitment to its midcentury legacy and architectural flair has allowed it to remain a sought-after vacation home locale well into the 21st century.

Imagine having no idea how celebrated you’d become over the years  by having a cocktail with friends at your home?

Photos: d. king

Art & Culture

Modernism Week – 70’s Featured Home

Welcome to the start of Modernism week here in Palm Springs…home to the largest concentration of Mid-Century Modern architecture in the United States. Modernism week is an annual celebration and appreciation of all things midcentury modern. Think design, architecture, art, fashion and culture.
This is one of the busiest times of year for tourism in Palm Springs when hundreds of events take place that include the modernism show & sale, fabulous signature home tours, films, lectures, premier double decker architectural bus tours, nightly parties, live music, walking and bike tours, fashion shows, classic cars, modern garden tours and even more. Of course numbers to events are a bit more limited now and keeping a safe distance is still in place, however it feels like things are getting back to normal.

Today I toured the stunning 1975 Palm Springs residence referred to as the “Seventies Sackley” home, as it was designed by noted architect Stan Sackley. The home was recently reimagined by interior designers Michael Ostrow and Roger Stoker of Grace Home Furnishings who purchased it in 2012.

Located in the prestigious Indian Canyons neighborhood, the house boasts deep mid-century roots and a distinctive architectural style.  Situated on nearly a quarter acre lot, the 3,044 square foot home contains three bedrooms, three bathrooms and a beautiful saltwater pool and spa. It has brilliant mountain views, high ceilings, clerestory windows and walls of glass. The formal entryway is expansive and the dining area leads to a step-down living and media room, while walls of glass line the back of the house that open to the pool with a wondrous view of the San Jacinto mountains.

A favorite feature for the couple is the combo living room and media room which is separated by one of Sackley’s signature touches, a see-through fireplace with stacked stone detail.

The house’s custom glazed floor tiles were another coveted element, as they’ve believed to have been designed for the house by Sackley himself. 

Stan Sackley is described by Ostrow and Stoker as an architect who left a great body of work but has remained somewhat under-appreciated until recent years.  Ostrow shared that following Sackley’s death in 2001, his work archives were sold at a yard sale.  “Soon after, someone would go up and down the street asking people if they wanted to buy the floorplans to their house,” he says.  “We’re lucky to have it so we can see how the kitchen was configured.”  When they gutted the kitchen, they located a piece of laminate that was from the old cabinet and found the old countertop, a walnut laminated material and a matte white glazed tile. “What we put back in makes it almost look like the original kitchen,” Ostrow says.

When it came time for an update to the home, Stoker and Ostrow decided to implement changes that remained sensitive to the architect’s original design. Eventually, the pair decided on a modest renovation of the kitchen and bathroom with no structural changes.  Luckily, the couple got their hands on Sackley’s original furniture floorplan.

The interiors now feature a classic modern take on Palm Springs style, with a bold green and blue color palette.  Vintage pieces are used throughout the home alongside contemporary pieces from Ostrow and Stoker’s own Grace Home Furnishings Collection and showroom lines.

All photos: d. king

For tickets:  https://modernismweek.com/