Palm Springs interior designer and author, Christopher Kennedy, has reinvented a classic Alexander home in Palm Springs. The home, called La Vie en Rose, will be a Modernism Week Fall Preview Featured Home starting Oct. 18 through 21.
The home is located on Rose Avenue in the Vista Las Palmas neighborhood, which is a much sought-after location. The homes on the western side of the street, where La Vie en Rose is situated, have nothing behind them but open desert all the way to the towering San Jacinto Mountains with views that are uninterrupted and breathtaking.
Charles Du Bois, who worked with the Alexander Construction Company, designed the 1958 Le Vie en Rose. He is known for creating a collection of Swiss Miss homes typified by dramatic A-frame roofs that pitched upward directly from the ground.
The current owners of the home, part time Palm Springs residents from Canada, were connected to Christopher Kennedy by a mutual friend. “We started the planning in spring and summer and have done the remodel while the clients were away,” Kennedy explains.
The footprint of the original home had previously been expanded to 3,600 square feet and included a spacious master suite and a casita. Kennedy’s update includes a new kitchen and completely renovated bathrooms. “We wanted to make it all look cohesive,” he says.
A rendering of the exterior of La Vie en Rose in the Vista Las Palmas neighborhood of Palm Springs.
With the addition of new pocketing and folding-door systems, Kennedy has created a 15-foot retracting wall of glass that maximizes the expansive views and enhance the indoor-outdoor Palm Springs lifestyle.
While the overall creative vision was Kennedy’s, he’s quick to point out that the project was a collaboration with many of the suppliers he works with frequently. “These are my ‘go to’ brands that I know and love such as LaCantina Doors for the door and window system,” he says. “The home’s tile is from Rock Mill Stone, Stone Impressions, and Porcelanosa.
The home will prominently feature Dunn-Edwards Paints ‘Color of the Year,’ which will be revealed in early October. If you attend the tours of the home during Modernism Week Fall Preview, you’ll be among the first to see the new paint color.
The design boards used to furnish La Vie en Rose.
Among Kennedy’s other collaborators who helped bring his vision to life are: Brizo Plumbing, Corian, Dunn-Edwards Paints, Emtek, Ferguson Lighting, JennAir appliances, and Wendover Art Group – many of the same suppliers he works with to create his annual Modernism Week Show House every February.
The interiors created by Kennedy and his design team include furnishings and décor from his own line that is featured at his store in the Uptown Design District of Palm Springs. “Most of the artwork is from Wendover Art Group, a collection of about 200 pieces from paintings to photos inspired by California modern ethos and Palm Springs vibe,” he says.
“The interior design is little masculine with deep reds and oranges, not the typical overused colors in Palm Springs. For the furnishings, we used modern classics that are high quality reproductions. The entire look will be shopable through our retail store.”
PHOTOGRAPH BY LYDIA KREMER
The homes on the western side of Rose Avenue have nothing behind them but open desert all the way to the towering San Jacinto Mountains.
Kennedy describes his design aesthetic as “sort of jet set nostalgia combined with California modernism; we do it in a way that feels fresh and current. While it’s nostalgic it’s never kitschy.”
Beyond La Vie en Rose for the Fall Preview, Kennedy is busy with several other exciting projects – a new online store that will be launched in November. “It will feature fun wallpapers which we love to use to add character to a home,” he notes.
Building on his work with HGTV’s House Hunters Renovation in the summer 2017, Kennedy is being featured on a new web series for the Design Network called Mid Mod, Then and Now, and will run for six episodes beginning in October.
The “Sunset Cocktail Party” at La Vie en Rose on Oct. 20 is sold out, but you’ll have the chance to tour the house Oct. 19-21. Tour times are from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Visit tickets.modernismweek.com for more information.