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Designed by C.H. Barlund and built in 1967, the Hurd House, so named for the original owner, F. E. Hurd, is a fine example of Desert Modern; Barlund, a Finnish architect, also designed the 1967 Dillman House at 40780 Thunderbird Road, Rancho Mirage. In the Hurd House he has combined the design simplicity of Desert Modern with touches of the luxe formalism of International Style to create an exceptional example of the Rancho Mirage country club esthetic.
Situated on almost an acre (.93 acres to be exact), the 6,178 sq. ft. U-shaped Hurd house contains a swimming pool in the courtyard with southerly views to the seventh fairway of the Tamarisk Country Club golf course. Just two fairways over (on the 17th to be precise) is the 1957 house designed by William Cody for Frank Sinatra. Other neighbors included the Marx brothers, Jack Benny and Red Skelton.
The flat roof and slender fascia raised on thin posts dematerialize the house, an effect intensified by the reflection of the landscape in the long band of floor to ceiling windows and sliders, so that you feel you are looking through rather than into the structure. Simple design choices often carry significant consequences and this effect of dematerialization is one of them. Compare the relation of the Hurd overhang resting atop the posts with Cody ‘s design for Abernathy. There the architect chose to suspend the roofline from the posts (not unlike Miës’ decision to ‘hang’ the Farnsworth from steel beams) which adds a dramatic delineation between porch and patio. Barlund chose instead to de-empathize the role of the posts -- they appear less to offer support than to articulate a rhythmic progression around the three-sided courtyard. Neither roof nor posts prevail here, all is a comfortable stasis. The treatment resembles that Cody used on the aforementioned Goldberg House on Southridge.
The wide eaves shade a deep patio that runs on all three sides of the courtyard; the long southern side was originally screened. Most of the rooms of the original 5 bedroom design open to this covered area with a view of the pool. The pool, partially nestled in the two projecting wings, projects beyond them leading your attention to views of the fairway and the mountains in the distance.
The new owners purchased the house in 2006, falling in love with the expansive lot, the extensive glass, the wide overhangs and the Hollywood history of Tamarisk Country Club.
The house had not been much changed from its original 1967 iteration, though it had suffered some from lack of maintenance. The new owners sought to accomplish a sensitive restoration with only the kitchen receiving significant alterations. For the rest of the house, it was a case of ‘spit and polish’ to restore the glamor. Having originally purchased the house with the intention of ‘flipping it’, the owners instead fell victim to its -- quite evident -- charms, captivated now by the light and vistas from every room. For the Hurds and now enjoyed by our twenty-first century owners, Barlund* designed a simple stylish hallmark in perfect harmony with the gracious life style of the storied country club and golf course surrounding it. The house is a testament to another time, when Hollywood’s stars wandered the desert landscape, golfed with the great, partied with peers, drank until dawn, while the rest of us, daydreamed, the thoroughly-thumbed copy of the latest Photoplay dangling deliriously at our slumbering side. |
