About – Palm Springs Preservation Foundation

About Us

Our History

The Palm Springs Historic Site Foundation was founded in 1997 by Professor Carl Prout, Diana “Mousie” Powell and other concerned citizens who believed that a fuller appreciation of Palm Springs’ architecture and history could be achieved through education. The Palm Springs Preservation Foundation is the spiritual successor to that original mission. Over the years the foundation has done much to achieve its stated goal of educating a host of audiences about the importance of preservation. One of the primary ways this educational goal is accomplished is with the publication of “tribute journals” to various desert architects (including William F. Cody, E. Stewart Williams) and builders (the Alexander Construction Company). The foundation has also published tribute journals that celebrate the city’s Spanish Colonial Revival and Polynesian “tiki” architecture.

Board of Directors

Vacancies on the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation Board of Directors are filled with appointments made by the existing board in accordance with the foundation’s bylaws. While candidates for the board are typically nominated by the current board, nominations from the PSPF membership are welcomed.

A board member of the PSPF is enthusiastic and passionate about the preservation of the historic resources of the city of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley. He or she has a commitment to the ideals of preservation and the PSPF mission.

The Palm Springs Preservation Foundation’s Board of Directors is composed of eight volunteers:

Tracy Conrad, At-large

Tracy is a founding member of PSPF, an Emergency Physician, and the Chief Operating Officer of the famous Smoke Tree Ranch where she lives in an E. Stewart Williams-designed ranch house with her husband and two children. Tracy formerly served on the Palm Springs Planning Commission and the city’s Historic Site Preservation Board. She owns and has sensitively restored a number of important historic properties in Palm Springs.

Jan Harper, At-large

Jan Harper became a full-time Palm Springs resident in 2016 after purchasing a new mid-century inspired home in the south end. As a senior executive for both Macy’s and Lord & Taylor, who traveled coast to coast for her job, Jan chose the desert for retirement. The draw? Her love for all things modern and the historic preservation of significant architecture brought her back here after she’d vacationed in the desert for years. Jan also serves on the board of the Palm Springs Cultural Center and has been a successful fundraiser for the Palm Springs Animal Shelter’s Faux Fur Ball.

Gary Johns, President

Gary is a Realtor for The Paul Kaplan Group and has been an outspoken advocate of Palm Springs historic preservation since 1996. He is the creator and presenter of PSPF’s well-regarded and popular free lecture “Lost, Saved and Endangered: Modernist Architecture in Palm Springs.” Gary frequently acts as the “public face” of the foundation before city boards, commissions and council meetings and serves on the board of Modernism Week and on the city’s Historic Site Preservation Board. Gary lives in south Palm Springs in a restored Canyon View Estates condominium designed by the firm of Palmer & Krisel.

Ron Marshall, Secretary

Ron is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, a retired senior federal government executive, and co-author of a popular field guide to Palm Springs’ built environment entitled Architecture 100. He is also co-author of the book Concrete Screen Block: The Power of Pattern, the most authoritative reference on that important midcentury building material. Ron served as the PSPF President from 2008-2013. A full-time resident of Palm Springs for seven years, Ron and his wife Barbara now share their time between Palm Springs and Baltimore. When in Baltimore, they reside in the Highfield House designed in 1964 by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

Steven Keylon, Vice President

Steven is a landscape historian who writes and lectures about Southern California’s cultural landscapes and is the author of two PSPF books, The Design of Herbert W. Burns and The Modern Architecture of Hugh Michael Kaptur. He is on the Stewardship Council of the Cultural Landscape Foundation and on the Board of Docomomo US/SoCal. Steven is the editor of Eden, the journal of the California Garden & Landscape History Society. Steven and his partner, metal sculptor John De La Rosa, live in a Herbert Burns-designed house in Deepwell Estates.

Erik Rosenow, At-large

Erik and his wife Ashley moved to Palm Springs in 2008 purely for their love of the mid-century architecture. He served as PSPF President from 2013-2018 and authored the 2013 tribute journal, The Architecture of Desert Leisure. Erik also serves as the administrator of PSPF’s very popular Facebook fan page and Instagram page. Apart from PSPF, Erik was the founding chairman (2010-2018) of the El Rancho Vista Estates Neighborhood Organization, a neighborhood in Palm Springs that is primarily comprised of Donald Wexler & Richard Harrison-designed homes.

Barbara Marshall, Treasurer

Barbara is a retired senior federal government executive who served as the PSPF administrator from 2008-2013 before joining the board. She served as the President of the Sunmor Neighborhood Organization and on the city’s Historic Site Preservation Board where she was instrumental in gaining Palm Springs’ status as a “Preserve America Community.” Barbara is the co-author of a popular field guide to Palm Springs’ built environment entitled Architecture 100 and co-author of the book Concrete Screen Block: The Power of Pattern, the most authoritative reference on that important midcentury building material.

Brad Dunning, At-large

Brad is a founding member of PSPF, and a Palm Springs resident since 1994. He formerly served on the city’s Historic Site Preservation Board and during his tenure helped lead an effort in 1995 to designate seven Albert Frey-designed buildings, among them the Tramway Gas Station. Brad is a sought-after designer whose work is informed by his deep knowledge of architectural history. He also writes about architecture and design. Brad’s writings have appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, GQ and Vogue, among others.”

Board of Advisors

Vacancies on the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation Board of Advisors are filled with appointments made by our Board of Directors. These advisors provide our directors with advice, insight and expertise on a wide array of matters including strategic planning, advocacy, financial objectives, corporate compliance, public relations, education and outreach, membership growth, etc.

The Palm Springs Preservation Foundation’s Board of Advisors is composed of four volunteers:

Doug Hudson

Doug is an architect who spent most of his career designing large-scale institutional projects, including hospitals, research laboratories and university campuses. Since moving to Palm Springs a dozen years ago, he’s sat on the city’s Architectural Advisory Committee and Planning Commission, to which he has been re-appointed to several times, and currently serves. Doug has chaired the Palm Springs Art Museum’s Architecture and Design Council and is currently on the board of the Palm Springs Public Library Foundation. He and his husband split their time between homes in the Old Las Palmas neighborhood and at The Sea Ranch, in northern Sonoma County, both of which they designed.

Susan Secoy Jensen

Susan holds a Master’s Degree from the UCLA School of Architecture & Urban Design and has an extensive background in historic preservation and modernism. In 1996 she established Secoy Architects, Inc. which specializes in mid-century design and adaptive reuse projects, both residential and commercial. Susan formerly served on the Palm Springs Architectural Advisory Committee. She lives with her husband Dan in a house they recently restored on Southridge.

Kip Serafin

For over a decade, since the mid-2000s, Kip has supported the Palm Springs Historic Site Foundation, and later the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation, in a variety of capacities from partner liaison to board member. Kip’s expertise in corporate compliance matters and non-profit management and operation has proved to be an invaluable asset to the foundation on innumerable occasions. Kip is the principal of The Kip Group, Richard Allen Associates and Locations 760 and is involved in high-profile event management in Palm Springs and throughout the Coachella Valley. Kip resides in Palm Springs.

Steve Vaught

Steve is an author who specializes in Southern California architectural and social history. He has written three books about Palm Springs: The Committee of Twenty-Five: The First Sixty Years 1948-2013 (2014); Einstein Dreamt Here, The Willows Historic Palm Springs Inn (with Tracy Conrad, 2015); and PSPF tribute journal Sentinels in Stone: Palm Springs’ Historic Tennis Club Neighborhood and its Iconic Walls (2015). Recently, he collaborated with architect Marc Appleton and author/realtor Bret Parsons on the first two volumes of the series Master Architects of Southern California 1920-1940 with books on architects Gordon B. Kaufmann and Roland E. Coate. Steve has written for Architectural Digest, Los Angeles and Palm Springs Life magazines. In 2019, he was named by Architectural Digest as one of Los Angeles’ new breed of “domestic explorers.”

Honorary Board Members

Honorary Board Members are recognized for their contributions to the fulfillment of the PSPF mission. These contributions include financial support, professional expertise and/or donations of significant volunteer time to the foundation.

The Palm Springs Preservation Foundation’s Honorary Board recognizes six individuals:

Alan Hess

Architect and historian Alan Hess is author of nineteen books on Modern architecture and urbanism in the mid-twentieth century; his subjects include John Lautner, Oscar Niemeyer, Frank Lloyd Wright, the Ranch House, Googie architecture, Las Vegas, and Palm Springs. He is the architecture critic of the San Jose Mercury News, a contributor to The Architects Newspaper, grant recipient from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, and a National Arts Journalism Program Fellow. He has received the Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Docomomo/US’s Award of Excellence, and the President’s Award from the Los Angeles Conservancy for three decades of work in preserving Modern architecture. Among the Modern buildings he has helped to preserve are the oldest remaining McDonalds, Stuart Pharmaceutical building by Edward Durell Stone, Valley Ho Motor Inn, Bullock’s Pasadena by Wurdeman and Becket, and Norm’s La Cienega.

William Kleindienst

William G. Kleindienst has lived in Palm Springs since November 1976. In that span of time he has worked with dozens of non-profit organizations, created three Palm Springs annual parades and served as our Mayor for two terms. Since leaving office in 2003 and retiring from his architecture practice, he has focused his energies on serious historical research on all matters Palm Springs. Considered one of our most knowledgeable and resourceful historians, his lectures and tours reveal detailed facets of Palm Springs history previously unknown. He collaborates with authors, fellow lecturers and historians. He has been called a raconteur, telling stories that stimulate, inform and delight. He currently serves on the boards of the Palm Springs Historical Society, the Palm Springs Cemetery District, and the Cielo Vista Charter School.

Marianne & Tom O'Connell

Marianne and Tom O’Connell are both native Californians. Lifelong fans of Frank Sinatra and modern architecture, their purchase of Frank Sinatra’s Twin Palms Estate (1947, E. Stewart Williams) was a predictable step when they looked in Palm Springs for a vacation home in 2009. They immediately became supporters of the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation and offered the Sinatra Estate to PSPF to use for fundraising during Modernism Week. They donate the use of the former home of Frank Sinatra to many other charities but kindly say that PSPF remains their “primary interest.” The O’Connell’s spend a week each month in Palm Springs where they love the weather, the friendly community and the wonderful environment.

Hugh M. Kaptur

Architect Hugh Michael Kaptur attended the Lawrence Institute of Technology (now Lawrence Technological University) and went to work for General Motors Styling in the Exhibit Design department in Detroit. Hugh moved to Palm Springs in 1956 where he briefly apprenticed with the architectural firm of Wexler & Harrison and in 1966 became a licensed California architect. During his professional career, Hugh has contributed considerable volunteer time to the city both as a member of the Palm Springs Architectural Advisory Committee and the Planning Commission. Some of Hugh’s many notable commissions include the Burgess Residence (1957), Palm Springs Golf Club Clubhouse (1959), Steve McQueen Residence (1964) and Tahquitz Plaza (1974 and 1977). Hugh became an honorary PSPF board member in August of 2015.

William Kopelk

From 2001-2008, William served as the president of the Palm Springs Historic Site Foundation which (operating as the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation) published a series of important educational journals on local architecture, architectural styles (Tiki and Spanish-inspired) and architects (E. Stewart Williams and William F. Cody). William is one of the founders of Palm Springs’ Modernism Week which began in 2005. William received his Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Oregon, worked as the Landscape Architect for Harvard University, and later worked as a Landscape Architect for Walter Gropius’ renowned firm, The Architect’s Collaborative (TAC). After working for various architectural offices in New York City, William moved to California and in 2000 established his design company InsideOutside, Inc.

The Palm Springs Preservation Foundation recognizes three former board members In Memoriam:

Donald A. Wexler, In Memoriam

Architect Donald A. Wexler (1926-2015) served as a PSPF honorary board member from May of 2010 until June of 2015. A 1950 graduate of the University of Minnesota’s School of Architecture, Don worked briefly for famed modernist architect Richard Neutra before coming to Palm Springs in 1952 to work with architect William F. Cody on the Tamarisk Country Club. After a productive partnership with architect Richard Harrison, in 1961 Don started his own firm and went on to build some of Palm Springs’ most beloved civic buildings and residences (including the Palm Springs International Airport and the Steel Development Houses). Much of Don’s work was showcased during PSPF’s popular Wexler Weekend in January of 2010 which saw the release of a tribute journal, Donald Wexler: Architect, chronicling his impressive career. Don was active in preservation issues involving the Santa Fe Federal Savings & Loan, Oasis Commercial Building, Royal Hawaiian Estates and the Steel Development Houses.

Patrick McGrew, In Memoriam

Author and architect Patrick McGrew (1941-2013) served on PSPF’s board of directors from January of 2009 until March of 2013. Prior to moving to Palm Springs in 2005, Patrick was a formidable force for preservation in San Francisco serving as the president of that city’s Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board for many years. Patrick’s pro bono efforts on behalf of the city of Palm Springs included the submission of many important Class 1 historic site nominations including Royal Hawaiian Estates (the city’s first residential historic district) and the Kocher-Samson Building (the city’s first modernist building). Patrick was the author of various books on California architecture including Donald Wexler: Architect and Desert Spanish: The Early Architecture of Palm Springs.

William Krisel, In Memoriam

Architect William Krisel (1924-2017) served as a PSPF honorary board member from July of 2009 until June of 2017. A 1949 graduate of the USC School of Architecture, William “Bill” Krisel’s huge body of work includes many important contributions to the architecture of Palm Springs. As a principal of the firm of Palmer & Krisel, Bill’s local projects included designing modernist tract homes for the Alexander Construction Company in Twin Palms Estates, Vista Las Palmas and Racquet Club Road Estates. Aside from being an outspoken preservationist in the Brentwood area, Bill found time to be a persuasive voice on such important Palm Springs issues as the historic designation of the Town & Country Center and Santa Fe Federal Savings and Loan. Bill was the foundation’s first honorary board member.

October 21, 2020

California Preservation Foundation 2020 Awards

On October 21, 2020 the California Preservation Foundation recognized PSPF with its “2020 President’s Award for Advocacy.” Palm Springs mayor Geoff Kors made a surprise appearance during the virtual awards ceremony to congratulate PSPF.

The CPF President’s Award for Advocacy recognized the period of 2019-2020 as an extremely productive time in PSPF’s “organizational life.” As part of our preservation advocacy program, PSPF pursued Class 1 Historic Resource nominations for numerous Palm Springs properties including the Kirk Douglas Residence (1954, Wexler & Harrison), the Avery Edwin Field Cabin Ruins (1920, Avery Edwin Field), Inspiration Point (1934-35, Thomas A. O’Donnell), the Walter Kirschner Residence (1934, Brewster & Benedict), the Allan & Mildred Kramer Residence (1963, James McNaughton), Piazza di Liberace (1951, John H. Slaten), the Sunmor Model Home (1955, Wexler & Harrison), the Dorothy & Roland P. Bishop Residence (1925, Dodd & Richards), the Dr. Franz Alexander Residence (1956, Walter S. White), the J. Cheney Wells Residence (1942, Albert Frey), and Thomas A. O’Donnell’s Desert Golf Course (1926-45). PSPF also submitted the Historic District nomination for the 14-unit Desert Holly condominium complex (1957, William J. O’Brien, Jr.).

As part of our publishing program, PSPF produced a scholarly 152-page book entitled The Modern Architecture of Hugh Michael Kaptur. PSPF was also the Lead Sponsor of an exhibition of Kaptur’s work by the Palm Springs Art Museum’s Architecture and Design Center from February 2 – July 7, 2019. Part of our sponsorship included free admission for more than 3,000 visitors during Modernism Week in February 2019.

In June of 2019, PSPF presented a $50,000 grant to the city of Palm Springs kicking off the city’s fundraising efforts to restore the downtown historic Plaza Theatre (1936). Throughout its existence, the Plaza Theatre has served as the center of the city of Palm Springs’ cultural life.

During the award period, PSPF continued its advocacy effort to name the city’s new Downtown Park after Palm Springs pioneer “Mother” Nellie Coffman, owner of the Desert Inn and one of the city’s leading philanthropists. The advocacy has included the creation of many imaginative and informational brochures, postcards, and displays. Additionally, PSPF board members have written newspaper opinion pieces and personally met with city council members to advocate for the park naming.

A longer-term advocacy effort came to fruition in March of 2020 when plans were submitted to the city for the sympathetic rehabilitation of the historic Town & Country Center (1948, Paul R. Williams & A. Quincy Jones) by its owner. PSPF was directly responsible for both the State of California and National Register “deemed eligible” designation as well as the local Class 1 Historic Resource designation of the complex.

PSPF was also the lead sponsor for the California Preservation Foundation’s highly-successful annual conference that took place in the city of Palm Springs from May 8-11, 2019.

February 17, 2016

On February 17, 2016 Mayor Robert Moon presented PSPF president Erik Rosenow with a proclamation for “having a profoundly positive effect on the understanding and appreciation of Palm Springs’ architecture” and declaring February 17, 2016 as “Palm Springs Preservation Foundation Day” in the city of Palm Springs.

Read Proclamation

November 9, 2007

On November 9, 2007 the California State Historical Resources Commission issued a Resolution of Recognition to the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation for its “active role in the preservation of historical resources that inspire, inform, and provide a sense of community among its residents.”

Read Resolution