Incollect Magazine - Issue 12

70 www.incollect.com VINTAGE GLAMOUR IN RANCHOMIRAGE, THUNDERBIRD COUNTRY CLUB, RANCHOMIRAGE, CALIFORNIA In 1951, what was once an onion field in the Coachella Valley became the site of the legendary Thunderbird Country Club and Thunderbird Heights, the Rancho Mirage desert getaway community for Hollywood stars including Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Bob Hope, and Bing Crosby. Mid-century “Desert Modern” weekend homes were commissioned with the new, stylish, clean lines and expansive walls of glass to showcase the panoramic views of the San Jacinto mountains. Spaces designed for seamless Indoor-outdoor living with sliding doors opening to an expansive patio and sparkling swimming pool were de rigueur. When Sheldon Harte’s longtime client purchased this vintage home, it had undergone some less-than-sympathetic renovations in the preceding decades and needed a fresh start. The design changes, both structural and decorative, restored it to its former glory. Sheldon writes . . . “of all the projects I’ve completed in the desert, from Palm Springs to Indian Wells, this one comes closest to the aesthetic of those times.” In the living room, a pared-down creamy color palette integrates the spectacular views and colors of the desert into the design scheme. Period-appropriate poured terrazzo floors keep things cool underfoot, Venetian plaster walls and a cedar plank ceiling add texture and warmth, and the stone fireplace wall is original to the house, built in 1957. A suite of vintage ‘Barcelona’ chairs designed in 1929 by Mies van der Rohe joins with a pair of back-to-back William “Billy” Haines one-arm tufted ‘Valentine’ sofas, introduced in 1950. Billy Haines, film star of the 1920s and ‘30s turned decorator, designed homes for Joan Crawford and Gloria Swanson, and later, Ronald and Nancy Reagan. He also decorated the interiors for the nearby historic Sunnylands estate of Ambassador Walter and Lenore Annenberg, making the selection of his sofa design especially significant. In the foreground is Danish furniture designer Hans Wegner’s swoopy, three-legged walnut Shell Chair, designed in 1963. Harte introduced Space-Age silhouettes with an undulating white lacquer floor lamp and the iconic Arco floor lamp, a 1962 design by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni. Photo © Trevor Tondro