DONALD ALLEN WEXLER, FAIA (1926-2015)
Born in Sioux Falls SD and raised in Minneapolis MN, Wexler served in the Navy during WWII and graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1950. He moved to Los Angeles to work for Richard Neutra then moved to Palm Springs in 1952 to work for William Cody.
In 1952, Wexler, along with Richard Harrison from Cody’s firm, set up Wexler & Harrison, photo above. In 1960, the George Alexander Construction Company hired them to design a neighborhood of prefab all-steel homes in Palm Springs. Due to high steel costs, the project was halted after just seven homes were built, but those seven became internationally acclaimed. That partnership dissolved amicably in 1961 and Wexler went on his own. At the same time, he owned Wexler and Perrin-Boggio Architects and Engineers. From 1969 to 2000 he was back on his own. WWCOT (Widom, Wein, Cohen, O'Leary, and Terasawa) which became DLR acquired Wexler's firm in 2000. Wexler practiced in Palm Springs for almost six decades designing houses, schools, hotels, banks and among many other projects, the 1966 main terminal building for the Palm Springs International Airport.
Wexler was one of the first architects to building an entire subdivision out of steel framing. His archives are at the Cal Poly Pomona College of Environmental Design, and he was honored on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars in 2008. Research by Catherine Westergaard Cramer.
Subdivisions: Caballeros Estates * El Rancho Vista * Enchanted Homes/Sunmor * Green Fairway * Rancho Estates
1954 - The Joe and Joyce Pawling House I, aka Lilliana Gardens, 230 West Lilliana Drive, Palm Springs CA. Designed with Richard Harrison. Sold in 2016 to Marduk (Duke) and Zsuzsi Sayad. B/W photo by Dan Shavkin.
1954 - Lilliana Gardens II, 231 West Lilliana Drive, Palm Springs CA. Designed with Richard Harrision as a speculative venture with custom home builder Joseph Stark Pawling. Interior design by Arthur Elrod. Sold to Rosemarie Vacano. Near the end of his life, mystery author Raymond Chandler penned four chapters of his last novel, Poodle Springs, while residing at the house; the unfinished work was completed by Robert B. Park in 1989. Top photo by Michael Locke.
1954 - The Robert (Bob) Howard and Andrea Leeds House I, aka Leeds-Howard House I, aka Kirk Douglas House, 515 West Vía Lola, Palm Springs CA. Sold around 1956 to Kirk and Anne Douglas. Douglas expanded the living area around 1976 to add a formal dining room. Kitchen remodeled in 1980. Sold in 1999 to Todd Jenkins and Timothy Dietrich. Sold in 2016 to Michael Budman and architect Diane Bald who did a restoration. Photos 2-4 by Michael Locke, 5-8 by Dan Chavkin.
According to the Desert Sun, "Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy carried on an affair there. Frank Sinatra occasionally cooked meals in the kitchen. And when the house behind it belonged to Dinah Shore, the families installed a gate between their properties so they and their guests could travel back and forth."
1954 - The Hutchens House, 1177 East Mesquite Avenue, Palm Springs CA. Sold in 2020.
1955 - The Donald and Marilynn Wexler House, 1272 East Verbena Drive, Palm Springs CA. Wexler did additions in 1965 and 2007. Sold several times, including to Alice Alioto and Daniel Giles. Restoration by architect Lance O'Donnell. Sold in 2016 to Joe Mantello. Bottom photo by Michael Locke.
1955 - The William Boggess House, 1366 South Calle de Maria, Palm Springs CA. Designed with Richard Harrison. Built by Joe Pawling. Featured in LA Times Home, 1/1/1956. Photo by Michael Locke.
1957 - The Maurice Smith House, 332 West Pablo Drive, Palm Springs CA. Sold to William and Lillian A. Pfisterer.
1957 - The Ted Leff House, aka the Leff/Florsheim House, 362 West Vía Sol, Palm Springs CA. Sold to Harold and Sarabel Florsheim. Sold to Armstrong. Sold in 2016 to Eric Carlson and Jonathan Eaton. Top photo by Dan Chavkin; bottom photo by Michael Locke.
1957 - The Chauncey Needham Residence, 39906 Morningside Drive, Rancho Mirage CA. Part of Thunderbird North, ten homes on Country Club Drive, Morningsprings Road, Morningside Drive, and Early Times Road designed in 1957 around a communal swimming pool designed by Wexler and William Cody. Addition. Received a historic designation from the City of Rancho Mirage.
1957 - The Sydney and Rachel Charney House, 37-127 Marx Drive, Tamarisk Country Club, Rancho Mirage CA. Designed with Richard Harrison. Interiors by Arthur Elrod. Landscape design by Garrett Eckbo. Photo by Jim Riche.
1958 - The Royal Air Properties Luxury Apartments, 389 West Tahquitz Drive, Palm Springs CA. Designed with Richard Harrison. Interiors by Arthur Elrod. Destroyed.
1958 - Wladziu Valentino (Lee) Liberace House, 231 Lyn Circle, Palm Springs CA. Designed with Richard Harrison. The famed pianist and entertainer owned four houses in Palm Springs including this one, which he used as a guest house. Liberace had the swimming pool fashioned in the shape of a grand piano. Sold in 2016 to Michael Valle. Photo by Michael Locke.
1959 - The Robert (Bob) Howard and Andrea Leeds House II, aka Leeds-Howard House II, 375 West Vía Lola, Palm Springs CA. Sold to Sidney and Alexandra Sheldon who removed the Modernist features with a mishmash of renovations. Sold to Kevin Lane and Matthew (Shev) Rush, who discovered its Wexler roots and did a complete Modernist restoration. Sold in 2015 to Vía Lola Palm Springs LLC.
1959 - aka The Zen House, 1344 South Calle de Maria, Palm Springs CA. Commissioned 1956. Designed with Richard Harrison. Sold to Avi Levi. Sold in 2014 to the Kirkwood family. Sold in 2018 to Debra and Mark Clausen. Bottom two photos by Dan Chavkin.
1959-1960 - The Royal Hawaiian Estates Condominiums, encompassing East Twin Palms Drive, South Palm Canyon Drive, and Canyon Rock Road, Palm Springs CA. 40 units, 12 buildings on 12 acres. Development was created for Jewish seniors and blends the modernist aesthetic with Polynesian architectural detailing (including tiki apexes and flying sevens). Top photo: The Philip Short Condo, 1774 South Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs CA. Short was the developer. Sold to Richard A. Morris in 2005. Sold in 2015 to Eric Johnston.
Other photos, by Michael Locke, are of 201 East Twin Palms Drive and the overall complex.
1960 - The Carl B. Anderson House, 71048 Country Club Drive, Rancho Mirage CA. Part of Thunderbird North, ten homes on Country Club Drive, Morningsprings Road, Morningside Drive, and Early Times Road designed in 1957 around a communal swimming pool designed by Wexler and William Cody. Sold to H. D. Wright. Sold in 2015 to Michael Alexonis and Hope Garrison. Sold to Tim Ohl. Sold.
1960 - 71049 Early Times Road, Rancho Mirage CA. Part of Thunderbird North, ten homes on Country Club Drive, Morningsprings Road, Morningside Drive, and Early Times Road designed in 1957 around a communal swimming pool designed by Wexler and William Cody. Sold to Lawrence B. Chrysler. Altered, badly, in the 1990s. Sold in 2015. Restored and renovated by in 2018 Brad Dunning who provided the interior photos. For sale in 2023.
1960 - The Bernard and Adele Perlin, 1044 Montego Drive, Los Angeles CA. Still owned by the Perlin Trust as of 2020. Top photo by Michael Locke.
Around 1960 - aka Steel House, 1230 Mason Avenue, Las Vegas NV. Photo by Brad Dunning.
1962 - The Calcor/Rheem Prefabricated Steel House, aka Wexler Steel House 1 of 7, 290 East Simms Road, Palm Springs CA. Commissioned 1961. Originally planned as a tract of 38 all-steel houses, only 7 were built due to the increase in the price of steel. Built by the George Alexander Construction Company, the components were prefabricated in Los Angeles, trucked to the site, and lowered onto a concrete foundation by crane. Bernard Perlin was the engineer. Furnished by Arthur Elrod. Featured in Architectural Record Houses of 1963. Designated a Palm Springs Historic Landmark in 2001. Sold in 2013 to John C. Manly. Sold in 2022 to Ronald Dupuis. Color photos by Michael Locke.
1962 - The Calcor/Rheem Prefabricated Steel House, aka Wexler Steel House 2 of 7, 3125 North Sunnyview Drive, Palm Springs CA. Featured in Architectural Record, May 1963. Designated a Palm Springs Historic Landmark in 2001. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. Sold in 2006 to Brian William McGuire. Sold in 2018.
1962 - The Calcor/Rheem Prefabricated Steel House, aka Wexler Steel House 3 of 7, 3100 North Sunnyview Drive, Palm Springs CA. Featured in Architectural Record, May 1963. Designated a Palm Springs Historic Landmark in 2001. Sold in 1993 to James William Moore. Top photo by Michael Locke.
1962 - The Calcor/Rheem Prefabricated Steel House, aka Wexler Steel House 4 of 7, 3133 North Sunnyview Drive, Palm Springs CA. Featured in Architectural Record, May 1963. Designated a Palm Springs Historic Landmark in 2001. Sold in 2014 to David P. Salinger and James W. Longtin. Bottom photo by Michael Locke.
1962 - The Calcor/Rheem Prefabricated Steel House, aka Wexler Steel House 5 of 7, 3165 North Sunnyview Drive, Palm Springs CA. Featured in Architectural Record, May 1963. Designated a Palm Springs Historic Landmark in 2001. Sold to Douglas Keeve and Mary Ann Webster. Photo by Michael Locke.
1962 - The Calcor/Rheem Prefabricated Steel House, aka Wexler Steel House 6 of 7, 300 East Molino Road, Palm Springs CA. Featured in Architectural Record, May 1963. Designated a Palm Springs Historic Landmark in 2001. Sold in 2007 to Thomas Carnase and Claire Victor. Bottom photo by Michael Locke.
1962 - The Calcor/Rheem Prefabricated Steel House, aka Wexler Steel House 7 of 7, 330 East Molino Road, Palm Springs CA. Featured in Architectural Record, May 1963. Designated a Palm Springs Historic Landmark in 2001. Sold in 1997 to James Isermann. Photo by Michael Locke.
1962 - The Compton Apartment Development, Compton CA. Unbuilt. A project with I. J. Kahn and Associates.
1964 - The Maurice and Dinah Shore Smith House, 432 Hermosa Place, Palm Springs CA. Built for actress/singer Dinah Shore and her husband. Sold in 2002 to David Lee. Restored in 2005 by D. Crosby Ross. Sold in 2011 to Ben and Jude Lipps. Sold in 2014 to Malibu Colony Pch Properties, a trust owned by actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Available for rent. Top photo by Michael Locke; second by Glen Wexler.
1964 - The Leisure Life Village, 6127 Erlanger Street, San Diego CA. Originally started by architect William Krisel. Builder and developer, Irvin J. Kahn. 248 single story steel apartment homes designed for active adults. Destroyed in 2009 for the 368-unit Cresta Bella Apartments.
1967 - aka the AISI house, aka the Style in Steel House, 5280 Buck Hill Avenue, Buena Park CA. Designed for the Ray A. Watt Co., U. S. Steel, and American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). Sold to George Daly. Sold in 2006 to Young J. Paik. Top photo by Michael Locke; B/W photos by Julius Shulman.
1968 - The Garden Apartments, Indio CA. Unbuilt. Project for Hight Construction Company.
1969 - Two Bunch Palms Condominiums, Desert Hot Springs CA. Unbuilt. Project for Hammel, Green, and Abrahamson.
1969 - The Michael and Barbara Heathman House, 633 South La Mirada Road, Palm Springs CA. Renovated by Wexler in 1987. Sold in 1996 to Robert Kaplan. Photos by Michael Locke.
1971 - The Howard Richmond House, Rancho Mirage CA. Unbuilt. Commissioned 1969.
1972 - aka the Sagewood Condominiums, block encompassing East Sandalwood, North Sunrise Way, North Cerritos, and East Chia Road, Palm Springs CA. Project for Kaufman and Broad. 108 units with carports or shared garages, 3 bedroom/2 bath, 2 bedroom/2 bath. Representative unit, 2092 East Sandalwood Drive, Palm Springs CA. 2 br/2 ba. Sold to Alan Hymowitz. Sold in 2015 to Jeffrey Acidera.
1973 - The Twin Springs Condominiums, 2696 South Sierra Madre, Palm Springs CA. 40-unit complex of 2 bedroom/2 bath condos. The original unit was still owned by its first owner, Sue Braun, as of 2015. Top photo by Michael Locke.
1979 - The Herman Kassinger House, 70168 Sonora Road, Rancho Mirage CA. Thunderbird Heights. Sold to Dan Swartz. Sold in 2021.
1980 - The Rose Garden Condominiums, East Baristo Road at Tiffany Circle, Palm Springs CA. 148 unit condominium complex designed for H. Kassinger Development Co. Unit in above interior photo is 1335 Tiffany Circle South. Bottom photo by Michael Locke.
1981 - The Cecil P. and Margaret Bacon Jones House, 899 Tamarisk Road, Palm Springs, CA. Wexler also did 1976 and 1981 additions. Still in the Jones family as of 2014. Photo by Michael Locke.
1983 - The La Quinta Condominiums, La Quinta CA. Unbuilt.
1984 - 75267 Morningstar Drive, Indian Wells CA. Renovated in 2016. Sold in 2021.
2004 - The Tropicana, 750-774 North Prescott Drive, Palm Springs CA. Commissioned in 2001 by Allen Miller. The four post-and-beam glass houses were built on the ground of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez's original old Las Palmas estate. Subsequent owners changed the house into a small hotel known in the 1980s as the Prescott and more recently as the Abbey. Exterior photos by Michael Locke.
2007 - The Marc Sanders House, aka the Sanders/Krizman House, 1234 East Verbena Drive (formerly 1234 North Hermosa Drive), Palm Springs CA. Commissioned in 2001. Located near Wexler's own house. Construction took six years, during which time it was sold twice, first to Robert T. Butler, and in 2002 to Anne Krizman. Sold in 2011 to Tod Abrams. Sold in 2015 to Kim Kuehner.
2008 - The Glen Wexler Addition, 3274 North Knoll Drive, Los Angeles CA. Don Wexler served as consultant. Sold in 2021 to Riho Kim and Torii Harumi. Photos by Michael Locke.
2011 - Developer Marnie McBryde planned 50 Wexler-designed homes in the Hamptons of NY. Unbuilt.
2013 - The Brian Balthazor Residence, 1977 South Navajo Drive, Palm Springs CA. Architect of record, Lance O'Donnell. A reproduction of Wexler's 1954 family home brought up to code. Wexler was involved as consultant.
2015 - The Marc Sanders House II, aka Steel and Glass 2015, 1155 East Granvia Valmonte, Palm Springs CA. Adapted from the earlier Sanders/Krizman project. Architect of record, Lance O'Donnell; Wexler was a consultant. Built by Better Built Inc. Sold in 2016. Sold in 2020 to Drexel Trust and Bessemer Trust Co. of CA.
Sources include: Morris Newman; psmodcom.org; City of Palm Springs Survey.