The definitive story of the most ambitious and glamorous mid-century modern house in the United States--Sunnylands, the estate of Walter and Leonore Annenberg, in Rancho Mirage, California--now revised and expanded. Foreword by Michael S. Smith. In Palm Springs, the mecca of mid-century modern architecture, Sunnylands is the undisputed masterpiece. With its pastel green and yellow interior and giddy pink roof, it was a Versailles for the Space Age. There is no other house like it anywhere: Designed by one of California's most important architects, A. Quincy Jones, it possesses the only completely preserved interior by Hollywood's decorator-to-the-stars, William Haines.
Completed in 1966, Sunnylands was built by media moguls Walter and Leonore Annenberg, and became a seat of power where presidents, movie stars, and corporate and world leaders--among them the Reagans, Queen Elizabeth II, Bob Hope, Truman Capote, Nelson Rockefeller, Oscar de la Renta, and more--met, relaxed, and ran the world, with nobody watching.
This revised edition of
Sunnylands: America's Mid-century Masterpiece from Janice Lyle, director of the estate's center and gardens, adds 32 pages of photography of the now-mature 15 acres of contemplative gardens by Jim Burnett; a LEED Platinum building by o2 Architecture of Palm Springs with 17 acres of breathtaking net-zero-water-use landscaping, not open to the public and only accessible here; and art installations created for the world-renowned Desert X festival. Lavishly illustrated with photographs by Mark Davidson, this book is a must-have for fans of mid-century design.
