Very Vintage Vegas

Mid Century Modern Revival Movement Finally Comes To Las Vegas

September 29th, 2008 Categories: Mid Century Modern

In Preparation for this Sunday’s Tour Of Mid Century Modern Homes In Paradise Palms, I thought you might like to read up on the subject.   

The truth is…The Modernism revival movement is just barely starting to catch on in Las Vegas. Almost all of the homes built pre 1970 fit into the broad category of modernism. There’s a few homes from the late 30’s and early 40’s that predate modernism that are still around (especially, for example in the John S. Park Historic Neighborhood and Huntridge), but post war to 1970, it was almost ALL modernist.

Modernism wasn’t just post and beam and flat or low pitched roof lines. Palm Springs Modern styled homes which abound thru Las Vegas neighborhoods such as Scotch 80’s and Marycrest and Crestview and Paradise Palms, but the ubiquitous ranch house and rambler also were an important part of modernism. The Rancher and The Rambler weren’t quite as obviously modern from the street view. Their modernism was more visible from the back of the home, and in the concepts of opening up the interior space, and merging the backyard with the living area was certainly in keeping with the language of modernism. Neighborhoods such as McNeil have some of the best ranches and ramblers in Las Vegas, but they exist in almost all of our historic neighborhoods.

The MID CENTURY MODERN REVIVAL MOVEMENT is catching on all over the country.

California, naturally has led the way. But the last two years of “housing bust” has opened up a new set of opportunities for a whole new set of modernist enthusiasts all over the country, but ESPECIALLY here in Las Vegas. Believe it or not, (and I certainly do) the combination of modernist revival and the fact that almost all of the mid century modern homes in Las Vegas are within 10 minutes of the STRIP, downtown, airport and UNLV will cause the historic neighborhoods to turn around first. Bet on it!

That said, here’s some reading for you to get you prepared for the tour this Sunday.

The EichlerNetwork ought to be your first stop.

There’s a great write up and introduction to Palmer and Krisel, the architects of Paradise Palms at the Palm Springs Modern Page of the Eichler Network. Their House Doctor Page has tons of great information about restoration.

There’s several great magazines that you can read on line, subscribe to, or pick up at your local bookstore. Check out Atomic Ranch, or Dwell

Some of my favorite blogs that cover all things modernist include midcenturymodernist, retrorenovation ModernPhoenix, MCM Interiors and LottaLiving.

There’s 1000’s more sites out there and a lotta learning to do. If you’ve got a favorite book, magazine, website or blog that you’d like to share, please leave the info in the comments.  

Do some reading, and then come to the Paradise Palms Tour This Sunday. I think you’ll like what you see.

Tags: paradise+palms, eichlernetwork

This entry was posted on Monday, September 29th, 2008 at 1:03 am and is filed under Mid Century Modern. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1. Scott said at September 29th, 2008 at 7:33 am

   Good stuff.

2. 50s Pam said at September 29th, 2008 at 8:50 pm

   I think that you are absolutely right about the mid mod houses closer into the city becoming repopularized. They are smaller and closer to the action – with less space to heat/cool and less distance to drive $. Also, such a huge percentage of mid mods are one-floor ranch living – sure to be popular with downsizing baby boom retirees.

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