54 DIGS.NET
| 5.28.2021
P R O F I L E | L A U T N E R C O M P O U N D
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Near Palm Springs, the Lautner Compound, consisting of a cluster of
four attached homes, pays tribute to the original architect.
A LEGEND
LIVES AGAIN
PHOTOGRAPHS:
COURTESY
OF
LAUTNER
COMPOUND
A
20-minute drive from Palm Springs, in the small city of Desert
Hot Springs, this modernist compound was originally designed
by mid-century architect John Lautner in 1947 as the prototype
for a master planned community that for unknown reasons was never
brought to life yet was commissioned by Hollywood producer and
screenwriter Lucien Hubbard. Completed in the late 1940s, the four
living units were the winter retreat of Hubbard's actors and friends.
When the current owners, business partners Tracy Beckmann (an
interior designer) and Ryan Trowbridge (a furniture designer and
builder), discovered the structures by accident in 2007, they were in a
state of disrepair, requiring a four-year renovation—mostly done by
Beckmann and Trowbridge. The main objective was to honor Lautner's
original design, characterized by concrete walls, ceilings and floors;
roof and steel supporting beams; redwood paneling; and wood-frame
windows, which were all still intact and have been preserved. Inside
each of the four 700-square-foot units—surprisingly, with no right
angles—adorned with mid-century furniture, the combined living and
bedroom area (including the kitchen), opens onto the desert garden and
private terrace. Available for short-term vacation rentals, the Lautner
Compound transports visitors to another era. thelautner.com
