When the Bayshore Inn opened on Vancouver’s Coal Harbour waterfront in March, 1961, it represented a new modern direction for the city. Built on reclaimed tidal flats near Stanley Park, the $6 million hotel opened with …
For many, Modernism Week means February. 11 days of sold-out home tours, packed schedules and hundreds of events spread across the Coachella Valley. But Palm Springs doesn’t stop celebrating modernism when …
When Tim and Lisa Hamor began thinking about retirement, slowing down apparently wasn’t part of the plan. The Los Angeles couple had spent decades working and raising a family in Westchester. Lisa owned …
When Twin Peaks debuted on television in 1990, its fictional Washington State setting seemed almost too perfect to be real. Yet much of what made it memorable was drawn from North Bend, Snoqualmie and Fall City …
One hundred years after the birth of Historic Route 66, New Mexico remains one of the best places to experience the Mother Road in all its sun-baked glory. Here, the landscape shifts from red rock mesas to wide open prairie …
There’s a particular kind of light in West Vancouver that feels almost architectural … filtered through cedar branches and softened by the ocean mist, caught in long horizontal lines where glass meets forest.
Currently pulling double duty as a visitors center and the gateway through which guests can enter the Neon Museum’s vintage sign boneyard, the Visitors Center started out in 1961 as the LaConcha Motel’s lobby building.
The Big Island doesn’t announce its midcentury heritage with flashy towers like Honolulu. Instead, it reveals itself through open air lobbies, lava rock walls and buildings designed to catch breezes rather than attention.
Every February, Palm Springs transforms into a living museum of midcentury style, design and innovation … and in 2026, Modernism Week promises its most dynamic celebration yet.
…there’s one neighborhood in West Vancouver, Canada that boasts residential towers which take their modernist cues from the International Style, Tropical Modernism and, of course, West Coast Modernism
This summer step inside some of the West Coast’s most iconic spaces and experience a weeklong celebration of architecture, design and community. West Coast Modern Week returns from July 8 – 13, 2025
Between February 13 – 23, Palm Springs and other Coachella Valley communities will host over 400 separate public events including home and neighborhood tours, cocktail parties, design shows, lectures
Celebrating 20 years in Palm Springs, Modernism Week 2025 promises to be an unforgettable event
Three Iconic Homes You Can Rent in Palm Springs (November 4, 2024) – Known as the original “playground of the stars” when Palm Springs was incorporated in 1938, the resort city came of age after the Second World War when an exciting new design aesthetic called Desert Modernism merged midcentury innovation with indoor-outdoor desert living…
Diane Dempsey shares with us her take on the holiday nostalgia craze and how she turned her own Yuletide memories and love of Midcentury Modern into a thriving seasonal business.
When most people think of Vancouver, Canada, it’s for the mountains and the ocean but for architourists more inclined to appreciate a built environment this West Coast city doesn’t disappoint especially when it comes to its midcentury modern heritage
Over 50 Events to be Offered Over Four Exciting Days By Ken MacIntyre August 1, 2024 (Palm Springs) – Summer’s not even half over and it’s already time to start thinking about the Fall. No, not Back-to-School or Halloween, but rather, “Modernism Week – October,” the desert’s mini-Modernism celebration of all things Midcentury in Palm…
Las Vegas is famous for reinventing itself. It’s also a city whose midcentury iconography is everywhere (but disappearing) and could easily take days to explore. If you’ve only got a couple of nights in town, though, here’s a quick and dirty Modtraveler guide to the marvelous modernist excess built on the hopes and dreams of those who helped shape Sin City in the Post-War years.
Annual West Vancouver event to celebrate architect Arthur Erickson By Ken MacIntyre (May 10, 2024) – During the post-war years, design innovation gave rise to a variety of unique mid-century architectural styles including the likes of Desert Modernism, Brutalism, New Formalism, Googie and more. In the Pacific Northwest, the region’s stand-out style was dubbed…
Midcentury optimism is alive and well in the Arizona desert By Ken MacIntyre (April 25, 2024) – Nestled amid the backdrop of the Santa Catalina mountains in the southeast corner of Arizona, Tucson stands as a living testament to a bygone era; a vibrant city that’s embraced a post-war past when architectural innovators and designers…
Photographer Martin Knowles pays tribute to View-Master By Ken MacIntyre (January 30, 2024) – For architectural photographer Martin Knowles, there’s nothing quite like viewing a photograph through the nostalgic lens of a View-Master. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Knowles, 45, is an accomplished photographer who, over the course of his 16 year career, has photographed…
Our Recommendations for a Modernism Week to Remember By Ken MacIntyre January 15, 2024 – Every year when Modernism Week rolls around, newbies to the annual celebration of all things MCM invariably ask me to recommend “the best” events. I usually rattle off my personal favorites; classic events and tours I’ve returned to time and…
A Sneak Peek at Palm Springs Modernism Week, February 15-25 By Ken MacIntyre (December 1, 2023) As anticipation builds for Modernism Week’s 19th annual gathering in the desert this coming February, the event is gearing up to showcase an array of unique modernist homes. In addition to the eagerly awaited Modernism Show, neighborhood tours, design…
Lisa Rathbone’s Love Affair with the Past By Ken MacIntyre (October 1, 2023) In a world smitten by the allure of shiny new things, there are those of us who find solace in the timeless elegance of the midcentury aesthetic. There are also those who can take it to a whole other level. Meet Lisa…
Vintage ‘Haver Home’ Inspires New Midcentury Guest House By Ken MacIntyre September 18, 2023 – As midcentury enthusiasts are keenly aware, most cities can point to a handful of architects and designers who helped shape their respective urban landscapes. Phoenix, Arizona is one such city, and Ralph Haver is one such architect. Iconic civic and…
Washington offers road-trippers plenty of Mid-Century gems Written and Photographed by Ken MacIntyre May 1, 2023 – When people are asked what their favorite mid-century spots are in Washington State they might list the iconic Space Needle, the Pacific Science Centre or even Dick’s hamburger drive-in. Not surprisingly all three of these modernist treasures…
Sensitive renovation gives historic building new purpose By Ken MacIntyre (March 1, 2023) Located on the windward (eastern) side of Oahu near Kaneohe, the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park – best known for its 1968 replica of the 11th Century Japanese Byodo-In Buddhist Temple – was founded in 1963 by prolific real estate…
Making their debut in Palm Springs this February… By Ken MacIntyre, October 31, 2022 The 18th iteration of Modernism Week is still three and a half months away but it’s never too soon to take a sneak peak, especially when tickets to the popular festival go on sale tomorrow (November 1)! Held every February…
Interesting ways to Retro Road-Trip! August 5, 2022 Planning to go big on your next retro road trip? You’re not alone. According to Destination Analysis, Americans are setting aside more than $4,100 for leisure travel this year. After experiencing numerous trip cancellations and postponements during the pandemic, 82% of Americans are planning to hit the road (or…
Over 50 events on hand at Modernism Week – October, 2022 By Ken MacIntyre, July 22, 2022 No longer relegated to “fall preview” status, this year Modernism Week’s annual October long weekend event will be renamed … drumroll please … “Modernism Week – October”. Okay, so maybe that rebranding is a little anticlimactic, but the…
As any retro road tripper will tell you, Roy’s Motel and Café on old Route 66 in California’s eastern Mojave Desert is a bucket list must-see of mid-century proportions.
Holiday book ideas for your favorite Modernista! By Ken MacIntyre November 13, 2021 – ‘Tis the Season, as they say, so what better way to show your favorite modernism enthusiast you care than by not going green this Christmas. Forget those shiny smart phone apps and futuristic virtual downloads. What your Midcentury Modernista really craves –…
By Ken MacIntyre, October 2, 2020 The first thing you notice upon entering the recently restored Dinah Shore Palm Springs Estate – aside from the wood ceilings, stainless steel flooring and natural stone wall in the foyer – are the windows, or rather, the walls of glass, through which sublime views of the San Jacinto…
Revolutionary Albert Frey-designed masterpiece of modernist design will soon be on view in Palm Springs PALM SPRINGS, CA – September 3, 2020: The Aluminaire House Foundation announced that it has donated the historic Aluminaire House to Palm Springs Art Museum to be part of the museum’s permanent collection. The historically significant aluminum and metal prototype residence,…
Hands down, my favorite Palm Springs Modernism Week event every year – in addition to the countless Midcentury Home and Neighborhood Tours, the Cocktail Parties and the Annual Show & Sale – is the Charles Phoenix Retro Slide Show.
A Midcentury oddity lands in Joshua Tree, California By Ken MacIntyre November 2, 2019 – When LA-based music producer Ronald “Jukebox” Jackson was musing about what to build on his new income property North of Joshua Tree National Park, it seemed only natural that he turn to music for inspiration. So, upon hearing lyrics about…
Danny Heller’s Paintings Evoke Mid-Century Americana April 19, 2018 – Artist Danny Heller was ahead of his time, so to speak, when he began immortalizing Southern California’s modernist architecture of years gone by. In the early 2000s few people cared about the region’s forgotten mid-century tract homes, but something about the Golden State’s much…
By Ken MacIntyre September 21, 2017 – When most people think of West Coast Modern, condominiums probably don’t come to mind. Rather; mid-century post & beam construction with lots of wood and a coastal setting is more likely the go-to notion, especially in Vancouver. However, for those living the downtown lifestyle, apartment and condo living…