Palm Springs Modernism Week 2025: AD PRO’s Essential Guide to the Midcentury Festival
Joining the flock of midcentury fans in Palm Springs for Modernism Week? Here are the architectural tours, lectures, and other attractions to know
As published in Architectural Digest, February 5, 2025
The Kaufmann Residence, which Richard Neutra designed in 1946 for department store mogul Edgar J. Kaufmann, Sr. The two-acre property will be open for garden tours during Palm Springs Modernism Week 2025. Photography courtesy Modernism Week
Palm Springs is a multicolored marvel in the desert, and visiting—especially during Palm Springs Modernism Week—can feel like stepping out of a time machine and into a Doris Day movie. Perched at the edge of California’s Coachella Valley, a dry, rocky landscape gives the surroundings of this city of about 45,000 people a muted color palette, but the vivid hues of midcentury-modern architecture (think canary yellow front doors, crisp white breeze blocks, and the occasional pink flamingo) give it the feel of a Slim Aarons photograph come to life.
You can get close to recreating the photographer’s famed Poolside Gossip for yourself with a bright ensemble and a deck chair with a view of the San Jacinto Mountains if you visit during Palm Springs Modernism Week; you may not have time to visit every landmark, or attend every lecture or party, but if you’re a first-time visitor, this guide will help you navigate the sunny spectacle of this chic desert oasis.
What, When, Where
Each February, midcentury fans flock to Palm Springs during Modernism Week for a dose of sun, architectural tours, lectures, cocktail parties, and the optimistic postwar vibe of Desert Modernism (though the city’s signature style dates back to the 1930s, with still-standing notables including architect Richard Neutra’s 1937-designed Grace Miller House). The one-of-a-kind festival marks its 20th anniversary this year, which, despite its name, runs from February 13–23.
Tickets are sold on a by-event basis, and many of the festival’s 500-plus activations are free or low cost. Others, like the 20th Anniversary Opening Night Extravaganza on February 13, will run you $350. A portion of the festival proceeds benefit local historic preservation and community groups in Palm Springs.
Where to Eat, Drink, and Stay
Palm Springs has scores of midcentury resort hotels designed around a central courtyard with a pool; some have been updated while retaining their original footprint, like the chic V Palm Springs, while others like the Saguaro Palm Springs has an instantly recognizable rainbow-colored exterior, and the Orbit Inn is kitted out in full Atomic Age splendor. February is the high season here, so it’s not easy to find bargain accommodations, but Modernism Week partners with several local hotels to offer special packages. Del Marcos Hotel, which sits right in the heart of downtown Palm Springs, is among this year’s partners, offering a stay that includes exclusive tickets to some of the festival's highlighted events. Designed in 1947 by architect William Cody, the Del Marcos is a classic, beautifully restored example of Desert Modernism and offers a mix of nature (it’s built from redwood and stone) and vintage charm, and a heated saltwater pool for the guests of its 17 rooms. Envisioning more of an at-home stay? We’ve got you covered with the city’s best Airbnb rentals too.
The principles of good design don’t end at mealtime: Many of the city’s restaurants boast architecture and decor that are a feast for the eyes. Trio, which is open for brunch and dinner, is located in the Turonnet building, a former bank built in 1953 and designed by John Porter Clark and Albert Frey. Kaiser’s Grille offers classic California fare in a 1956 former ladies’ boutique that was called Haggarty’s—the rounded aluminum facade and neon sign will lead you to the lobster bisque. For a true splurge, book a table at Sandfish Sushi and Whiskey, which offers an exquisite Omakase tasting menu (and stars Cole & Son’s fish-forward Acquario wallpaper in the powder room). And though it’s not an architectural icon, visitors and locals swear by Elmers, the classic diner in town, where the Ranch Breakfast will fuel a full day of sight-seeing.
Design Happenings Not to Miss
Home and Garden Tours
The menu of Modernism Week is an intellectual and aesthetic bounty for Desert Modernists. In celebration of the 10th anniversary of James Schnepf’s book Palm Springs Modern Living, several homes featured within the tome will be open for self-guided tours. The ticketed 3.5-hour tour includes visits to a 1956 time capsule in the Tahquitz River Estates, a beautifully restored William Krisel home in Twin Palms, a Charles Du Bois home in Vista Las Palmas, and the family home of Lance O’Donnell, a contemporary desert architect and protégé of Donald Wexler.
Other quintessential Palm Springs homes open for tours include a 1976 Stan Sackley–designed Indian Canyons abode, featuring warm-toned interiors by Steve Chase; Neutra’s iconic Kaufmann Residence, which will host a garden tour of the two-acre property (including the famous Poolside Gossip backyard); and Frey House II, Frey’s Modernist gem that generally only opens to the public during Modernism Week.
Modernist architect Albert Frey’s Frey House II will be open for ticketed tours during Palm Springs Modernist Week 2025. Photography courtesy Modernism Week
Design Dialogues
Festival highlights also include keynote address “Dr. Raymond Neutra: Survival Through Design,” in which the son of the venerable architect will discuss preserving his father’s legacy and meeting design challenges in a changing world. Music lovers won’t want to miss Charles Phoenix’s lecture “Googieland! A Celebration of Atomic Age Architecture and Design” on the swooping, space-age architectural style that Phoenix describes as the “jazz of midcentury architecture.”
On February 17, independent curator Steven Wolf will present “Stories Untold: Howard Smith: Rediscovering A Lost Black Modernist.” Wolf’s new book on Smith’s career accompanies a retrospective on the architect’s work, which will open at the Palm Springs Art Museum in May. A Black artist from New Jersey, Smith emigrated to Finland at the height of the Cold War and had a robust career in the Scandinavian design scene but remains underappreciated in the US.
Special Exhibitions
Open year-round, the Palm Springs Art Museum is one of the region’s cultural crown jewels. Founded in 1937, the museum is renowned for its collection of postwar studio glass and the iconic 1931 Aluminaire House designed by Frey and A. Lawrence Kocher. On view through March 31, visitors can see David Hockney: Perspective Should Be Reversed, which includes nearly 200 works by the artist ranging from prints and photographs to collages and iPad drawings.