Edris House: Owner Stays True to E. Stewart Williams' Vision

Home first, and incorporate organic materials to its setting second

Maria Zang Real Estate

 

In early 2000, when current owner J.R. Roberts and his partner went out searching for midcentury modern homes in Palm Springs, they didn’t exactly know what particular area or style of home they were interested in buying.

However, when they saw the Edris House perched up high on the Palm Springs hillside, their focus became crystal clear.

Roberts recounts telling his realtor at the time, “That’s the kind of house we like.”

 

VIDEO: Take a tour of the Edris House and hear from owner J.R. Roberts.

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As luck would have it, the property became available. The designated Class One Historic Edris House, designed and built by legendary architect E. Stewart Williams, was now the “kind of house” they could call home.

Luckily, the home had not been altered from its original 1953 design. Everything is original but the carpeting and furniture.

The home maintains the designer’s original intentions: be a home first, and second incorporate organic materials, such as knotless Douglas fir, local stone, and indigenous landscape.

Staying true to Williams’ guiding principles — architecture should come from the earth rather than merely being placed upon it — Roberts shares what he loves most about the house: its embodiment of organic design and livability.

Happily restating the architect’s personal philosophy, that a home should look like it grew out of the ground, rather than falling out of the sky, Roberts adds, “I think the Edris house is a spectacular example of that.”

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