The Rebirth of The Guthrie House, Albert Frey 1935 – Palm Springs CA by Marina and Avalon Rossi


The Guthrie House built in 1935 by Albert Frey is a very early example of the genius of Frey.  “With the Guthrie House, Frey looked at the contextualism of the massing of the traditional adobe house and its relationship to the sun and shade; he used a stucco exterior to simulate adobe.  Each function of the house was articulated as a mass, and there were no overhangs…”  according to Frey expert Joseph Rosa.  
		
“Simple” and “pure” best describe Frey’s work. He was a master of understatement, eliminating the insignificant, and in doing so, foreseeing the minimalist movement by decades. In fact, one of the biggest dangers a Frey building faces is people’s urge to adorn or encrust it over the years.

In fact, the Guthrie has experienced many style reiterations including Spanish arches, Hollywood glam, and a host of poorly designed and ill-proportioned additions.   Previous owners hosted many well known celebrities including Sinatra and Marilyn in the bar lounge complete with mirrored ceilings, dark brown tile, and glass block.  Errol Flynn lived in the estate while building the first nudist hotel in the area in the 1940’s.  

The restoration of the Guthrie House began with extensive research into the original layout of the home.  Discussions with Frey experts began the process, which included months of peeling back the decades of well intentioned renovations to uncover much of the original Frey, and the modern “boxes” dropped in the desert began to emerge.  

During our renovation and the "uncovering" of the genius Frey, we removed layers of various fireplace mantles, layers of stucco, wallpaper, cabinets and even lowered ceiling heights, and tore down inappropriate additions, to finally arrive at what it started off as; a box in the desert.  What made Frey the epitome of desert architecture was his emphasis on the relationship between the buildings and the raw, California desert landscape. With the Guthrie house, our focus was to integrate the natural desert into the home, while accommodating today’s living standards. 

All materials utilized in the design passed the “Frey” test. Flooring throughout is cement, as it was in 1935. No tiling was utilized, but rather a new type of interior stucco on the bathroom walls, to mimic the surrounding 360 degree views of the mountains. The range hood was custom made and designed, inspired by a steel circular fireplace in the well known Frey I home (1947). The large brick wall in the kitchen and dining room, though likely not part of the 1935 design, was hand painted on the face of each brick to mirror Le Corbusier’s Parisian apartment, a design partner and long time friend to Frey. All cabinetry was made from scratch by our carpenter from Paris, France in the Frey style and color.  Original Frey cabinetry in the bedrooms and hallway were meticulously restored.  

We were insistent on using the original stucco color, and color matched a piece of stucco found in between the walls during demolition. The stucco was hand troweled to mirror the roughness of adobe buildings. The colors and textures of several detail walls extend from the interior to the exterior, emphasizing the cohesion of the two traditionally separated spaces. On the exterior, we utilized natural stone pavers to create patios and blend in to the landscape, as opposed to poured concrete. The pool was designed to appear as a natural pond or lagoon, with a dark black plaster surface and stone coping. Original plants were identified and replanted in their original locations. Though the pool house was a new addition, it was set off to the far right to not intrude on line of sight of the original structure. Frey became well known for his inventive use of corrugated metal; all gates, a sliding barn door on the interior, and the original garage doors, now set in the den, are all made out of corrugated metal. Instead of galvanized corrugated metal, the metal used is raw and rusted, weathered as if it had been there since its original build. The ultimate result is a 2019 version of a Frey classic. 

 After hiring 2 different architects of significance and years of studying the design and asking ourselves "what would Albert want" we concluded that we were better suited to lead the design on the project.  Both architects had overhangs designed on 3 sides of the home.  We decided during construction to eliminate all overhangs only to find out that in fact, the lack of overhangs was a significant design feature of the original home.  That gave us further assurance that we were doing the right thing.  The desire to make this simply another "renovation" in the string of renovations that this house suffered since 1935 was not our goal.  Our goal was to respect and make Albert proud.  

The beauty is timeless and the significance is alarming when one realizes that this was built in 1935.  The Guthrie House is like a Jackson Pollack painting, modern no matter when it is regarded.  The significance must be respected.