borrego springs

Back to Borrego Springs

A photographer gets hooked on an oft-forgotten modern landscape.

Dan Chavkin Home & Design, Real Estate

borrego springs
A relic by architect William Krisel on Wrangler Road in Borrego Springs.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAN CHAVKIN

It is another bright and sweltering summer day with temperatures rising well into the triple digits. My camera gear is in the seat beside me as I cruise down Palm Canyon Drive, periodically flanked by commercial buildings designed from the late 1950s through the 1960s. I know this sounds like the opening to countless travelogues written about Palm Springs. But this is not the Palm Canyon Drive of that city, where a non-midcentury commercial building or home is considered an anomaly. This Palm Canyon Drive belongs to a quiet town that hangs out 80 miles south, a town that only appears on the horizon after you traverse those last 30 no-man’s-land miles and swing west away from the Salton Sea.


As far as modernism goes, Borrego is a diamond in the rough, albeit a small diamond.

Mine is often the sole car on that desolate stretch into Borrego Springs, an enclave of about 3,500 (in the off season) that lays claim to the fact that all of its borders are within the vast expanse of Anza Borrego State Park in San Diego County. For many, Borrego is an offbeat getaway, the only California town completely surrounded by a state park. With nature unfolding on all sides, the area is known for its flora, hiking trails, birding, cycling, and stargazing. As an architectural photographer, I’m here for the manmade attractions.

The less-known side of Borrego Springs is its sporadic but worthy display of midcentury modern architecture, dotting the wide streets and set behind the gates of a 1950s country club. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the main thoroughfare is a namesake of the one in Palm Springs.

As far as modernism goes, Borrego is a diamond in the rough, albeit a small diamond. It was highly developed during the 1950s and ’60s, leaving behind some shining relics of those eras. My interest in uncovering more of its midcentury bones has drawn me back several times. A friend, who for years owned one of the Wexler steel houses, originally told me about it. I’m not sure I believed him until I saw it for myself, and I can attest: There’s some good stuff here.

Anza Country Club

Wearing an orange door not unlike those seen around Palm Springs, this home inside
the de Anza Country Club in Borrego Springs is characteristic of the classic midcentury architecture found throughout this enclave.

Like Palm Springs, Borrego Springs is host to a select group of modernist architects whose designs of homes and commercial buildings are associated with the region. Most notably is Julian, California–based architect Richard Zerbe, whose architectural imprint can be seen throughout town. At the sleepy golfer’s paradise that is de Anza Country Club, founded in 1957, many of Zerbe’s homes enjoy views of the fairway by day and an endless window into dark-sky constellations at night.

De Anza Country Club is the Beverly Hills of Borrego Springs. The best and biggest houses are there, surrounded by prime real estate. Zerbe is among several midcentury architects who contributed to its rather unsung legend.

Palm Springs modernist architect William Cody was originally attached to the master plan of the clubhouse and cottages. Though the story goes that Cody was perhaps too expensive in the end, and that architect Hal Martinez and Zerbe both worked on the clubhouse, and Cody built several residences in the area.

A-frame

With the mountains jutting up behind it, an A-frame residence in Borrego Springs both blends in and jumps out against the minimalist landscape.

In 1958, Henry Hester designed what I consider to be one of the finest midcentury modern homes in the area: the Givler residence.

Living Area

An abundance of wood and earth-toned furnishings throughout the Givler residence, built in 1958, blur the lines between indoors and out.The main living area with original front door placement

Kitchen

The incredibly preserved kitchen.

Redwood Carport

The redwood slat carport.

Another prominent architect affiliated with Borrego Springs is San Diego–based Henry Hester, who during the 1960s formed a brief alliance with Cody. In 1958, Hester designed what I consider to be one of the finest midcentury modern homes in the area: the Givler residence. Originally designed for Chicago attorney David Givler, the de Anza Country Club home is now owned by Givler’s grandson, architect Trace Wilson, who purchased the house from its second owner, justly reclaiming it as the family home.

The immediate standout for me was the carport. The structure is modernist and a great extension to the house. What makes it so Borrego is the use of redwood slats — not at all pristine but wobbly and crooked in a Mexican cantina sort of way. (Apparently Hester wanted to carry that feeling through the entire house, but Givler refused to let it inside.)

Beyond the club, other examples of modernist homes appear throughout town, including a string of homes on one street that would not be out of place in the Racquet Club Estates or Twin Palms neighborhoods of Palm Springs. One such home is a perfectly intact butterfly-roofed abode designed by famed architect William Krisel. Next door, I’m told, is “an Alexander,” one of the many constructed by George and Robert Alexander of Los Angeles and Palm Springs. Somehow, it seems, they made their way to Borrego in between building mid-mod neighborhoods.

Several miles from this enclave, a spectacular A-frame home makes a sudden appearance. Unencumbered by others like it, the house looks like the ghost of Charles Dubois, the architect behind the 15 A-frame houses in Palm Springs, carefully delivered it to the site.

Wrangler Road

An unusual angle captures the walkway in front of one of the original classic Alexanders on Wrangler Road in Borrego. Were one to drop it into Racquet Club Estates in Palm Springs, it would not appear out of place.

During my excursions, I’ve also discovered that Palm Springs was not the only desert community where steel construction was pioneered.

ModuBuilt Houses

An example of one of the Rohr Industries Inc. ModuBilt houses.

During my excursions, I’ve also discovered that Palm Springs was not the only desert community where steel construction was pioneered. In the early 1960s, Rohr Industries Inc., a defense and aerospace contractor, introduced the ModuBilt prefabrication system to Borrego Springs in the form of multidwelling homes and a condominium complex built on a former ranch called Club Circle Resort. Radiating from the resort are four cul-de-sacs containing the dwellings.

Originally built in 1947 and then rebuilt in 1958 after a catastrophic fire, the Palms at Indian Head was Borrego Springs’ first major lodging facility. The 20-acre resort hosted numerous Hollywood stars into the 1950s. The two-story hotel exemplifies quintessential modernist post-and-beam construction. Besides the architecture, the other most salient feature is its swimming pool, whose size relative to the resort’s scarce 11 rooms is more fitting for an Olympic swimmer than for a weekend vacationer.

During my excursions, I’ve also discovered that Palm Springs was not the only desert community where steel construction was pioneered. In the early 1960s, Rohr Industries Inc., a defense and aerospace contractor, introduced the ModuBilt prefabrication system to Borrego Springs in the form of multidwelling homes and a condominium complex built on a former ranch called Club Circle Resort. Radiating from the resort are four cul-de-sacs containing the dwellings.

For its size and secluded location, the town showcases a surprising collection of noteworthy midcentury modern architecture.

Circle Club

The repetition of privacy partitions at the Circle Club condos turns practical functionality into eye-pleasing midcentury design.

Indian Head Hotel

Once a hangout for Hollywood stars, the two-story Palms at Indian Head hotel still draws modernistas who appreciate its post-and-beam architecture.

Originally built in 1947 and then rebuilt in 1958 after a catastrophic fire, the Palms at Indian Head was Borrego Springs’ first major lodging facility. The 20-acre resort hosted numerous Hollywood stars into the 1950s. The two-story hotel exemplifies quintessential modernist post-and-beam construction. Besides the architecture, the other most salient feature is its swimming pool, whose size
relative to the resort’s scarce 11 rooms is more fitting for an Olympic swimmer than for a weekend vacationer.

Although Borrego Springs is not the mecca of modernism that its neighbor to the north is, the town, for its size and secluded location, showcases a surprising collection of wonderfully designed and noteworthy midcentury modern architecture.

What I photographed over a series of summer days represents only a cursory introduction to the myriad examples of postwar architecture in a town that warrants further examination of its impressive legacy.

Before I leave, I usually swing by Borrego Art Institute. It too is known for one thing (a gallery, workshop, and pottery studio) yet warrants attention for another (a totally hip restaurant right in the middle of town). Designed by known modernist William Kesling in 1949, this mod eatery with a wood-fired oven would be at home in Palm Springs or even L.A. For almost 70 years, these kinds of architectural surprises have kept people like me making the trek, from one Palm Canyon Drive to another.