All Places

Mid-Century Furnishings Just East of Palm Springs off Hwy. 111 in Cathedral City is a group of Mid-century Modern vintage stores well worth the short drive. 68-929 Perez Road is home to four different shops, each specializing in different aspects of the Mid-century vernacular, including: Hedge – A combination of unique art pieces and restored higher-end Mid-century furnishings. Spaces – Read more...

Mid-century modern architects Taking a page from Hollywood’s playbook – and its Walk of Fame –  in 1992 the city of Palm Springs began honoring those whose contributions and presence in the area contributed to the charm, worldwide prominence and name recognition of the city. Since then, nearly 400 Golden Palm Stars have been embedded in the sidewalks along Palm Read more...

Mid-century/desert modern houses Southern California architects Dan Palmer & William Krisel, who’d successfully built hundreds of mid-century modern post & beam tract homes in Palm Springs during the 1950s & 60s, were tasked by local developer Irwin Molasky  to design a majority of Clark County’s first planned community, Paradise Palms, and they knocked it out of the park. This progressive 1960s subdivision Read more...

Mid-century/contemporary furniture Located in the lively and eclectic neighborhood of Mount Pleasant, Parliament Interiors offers affordable mid-century reproductions and originals with an eye towards style. Specializing in space-saving furniture and accessories for modern living (that means you, apartments dwellers & condominium owners!), this stylish showroom includes contemporary modular and multifunctional furnishings along with inexpensive reproductions of classic pieces by Eames, Read more...

Mid-century furniture & apparel Kate Aldrich and Tim Shaffer have been winning over locals since opening their high end vintage decor & apparel shop in 2012. Mid-century modern furniture from Knoll to Nelson share a lot of square footage with ceramics, lighting, glassware, artwork, apparel and even vintage eye wear – hipsters will have a blast trying on retro frames! Read more...

Mid-century/vintage collectibles The Palm Springs Vintage Market takes place the first Sunday of every month (October thru May) downtown at 356 N Calle Encilia, just north of the Agua Caliente Casino and offers a variety of merchants selling rare vintage and retro items from fashions to furniture and everything in between. A great place where you can enjoy the outdoors, Read more...

Mid-century art museums Located at the base of Mt. San Jacinto in the heart of downtown Palm Springs, architect E. Stewart Williams designed the Palm Springs Art Museum’s current home, which opened in 1974. Architecturally dramatic and a remarkable example of the evolution of desert modernism (or perhaps, desert brutalism), the 150,000 sq. ft. space holds a diverse art collection that’s filled with Read more...

Mid-century/brutalist buildings Built in 1967 on the grounds of Exhibition Park – home to Hastings Racetrack, Playland and the Pacific National Exhibition – the Pacific Coliseum is an exercise in Brutalist minimalism; a simple circular building boasting a ring of convex concrete panels and warm natural stone at its entry ways.  Inside it’s large and open and the entire structure Read more...

Mid-century buildings/Vintage Eats Since 1964 the Pagoda Floating Restaurant has been a fixture in the old Pawa’a neighborhood of central Honolulu; a kitschy, mid-century, circular building surrounded by a man-made tropical pond filled with Japanese koi fish and a waterfall. It’s classic Hawaiiana. The Pagoda exudes that authentic, artificial island-style tropical oasis feel – which includes an adjoining hotel with Read more...

Mid-century buildings The Pali Highway, also known as Hawaii Route 61, connects communities like Kailua  and Kaneohe  from the windward side of Oahu to downtown Honolulu. It’s a quick 20-30 minute drive through the Nu’uanu Pali tunnels (built in the 1950s) in either direction. On the way you’ll see a handful of pretty nice modernist buildings in the lush Nuuanu Read more...

Mid-century/desert modern buildings Hidden in plain site, many of Palm Canyon Drive’s mid-century modern commercial buildings are easy to overlook, but if you can see past the “gingerbread” of their contemporary trappings then you’ll notice some pretty innovative work. By no means are these all the modernist buildings in Palm Springs (there’s a lot!), simply a few of our favorites along Palm Read more...

Vintage restaurants Nothings says vintage Las Vegas like dark wood paneling and shiny brass fixtures, especially if your idea of vintage Vegas is a rat pack-style retro steak house. Fortunately, there are a handful of such places that still exist, the oldest dating back to the 1950s. Listed from ‘less vintage’ to ‘most vintage.’  Click on addresses below for Google Read more...

Mid-century & vintage collectibles For nearly 40 years, Bob & Linda Blaise have been peddling an eclectic collection of vintage wares not only to the public, but also to top Hollywood set decorators. One step inside their modest shop and you’ll see why; the place is packed with treasures dating back to the mid-century and beyond. With vintage Life Magazines, View Read more...

Mid-century accommodations Located in the Historic Tennis Club neighborhood near the base of Mt. San Jacinto, the Orbit In exudes a retro “rat pack” vibe, even boasting an actual boomerang bar to prove it! Designed by Herbert Burns as “The Village Manor” in 1957, and relaunched as the Orbit In in 2001, this oasis of cool features 9 poolside studio rooms Read more...

Mid-century residential buildings Before 1956 if you’d wanted to build an 18-story waterfront tower in Vancouver’s residential West End it wasn’t possible, but adjustments to the city zoning regulations by a progressive City Council changed all that and by 1958 the first residential high-rise at English Bay  went up. And what a building it was… and still is! Designed by Rix Reinecke of the architectural design Read more...

Mid-century modern buildings/plaza The best thing about this downtown mid-1970s Miesian office building’s namesake is its plaza. Sure, the 26-story, glass curtained tower – designed by Charles Paine – evokes an elegantly timeless mid-century modern vibe, and it’s a gorgeous structure to be sure, but it’s the open concrete plaza at its base (also by Paine) tying it all together with Read more...

Mid-century vintage signs If you’ve ever wanted to get up-close and personal with vintage Vegas neon signery, this is the place to do it. Although there are several restored neon signs on display throughout the downtown Fremont Street area and along North Las Vegas Boulevard as part of the Las Vegas Signs Project and National Scenic Byway, the “Boneyard” is Read more...

Mid-century modern buildings The North Vancouver City Hall is a great example of how to save a vintage building through restoration, renovation and repurposing while also using recycled and natural elements to help keep the structure sustainable. In 2013, a vacant library next to the 1970s City Hall heritage building was repurposed as staff offices and meeting space while a Read more...

Mid-century modern buildings Located at the busy intersection of South Beretania and Pikoi Streets is the unique Occidental Life Insurance Building designed by Lemmon, Freeth & Haines, circa 1951. It’s a beautifully constructed early 1950s low-rise office building made from natural stone, concrete, aluminum and angled glass. Not surprisingly, though, the real attraction is the 1967 addition of a cantilevered Read more...

Mid-century heritage Not only is the Museum of Vancouver a great place to learn about the city’s heritage, but it’s also located inside one of Vancouver’s most jaw-droppingly awesome mid-century modern structures, the H.R. MacMillan Planetarium building, c.1968 (now called the H.R. MacMillan Space Center). Inside, the three museum wings are clustered around a central core (the planetarium) that house permanent Read more...

Mid-century inspired art Inspired by the Atomic Age  esthetic of The Jetsons, L.A. artist Nat Reed reinterprets mid-century Americana from the 1950s and 60s in loose, rich commercial-type renderings. His small gallery in downtown Palm Springs is like walking into a candy store full of rainbow colored treasures. From Tiki to Googie to Kitsch, Reed’s work is full of fun, cultural and architectural Read more...

Mid-century popular culture Nuclear testing near Las Vegas drew thousands of curiosity seekers to the city in the 1950s and early 60s. The Atomic Age was big business and Las Vegas cashed in with Atomic themed drinks, beauty pageants and flashy marquee signs. Who knew the Atomic bomb could be so much fun? The National Atomic Testing Museum takes a different Read more...

Mid-century modern buildings Part Theater, part Convention Center, part Arena; the Neal S. Blaisdell Center (named for the city’s former mayor, 1955-1969) spans an entire city block and was designed by the architectural firm of Merril, Simms & Roehrig, as well as Adrian Wilson & Associates who designed its Arena. Upon opening in 1964, the Honolulu International Center – as Read more...

Brutalist buildings Located at the University of British Columbia, the Museum of Anthropology is world renowned for its collection of Northwest Coast First Nations art and artifacts and is definitely worth checking out. Architecturally speaking, however, it’s all about the award-winning building that houses said artifacts, and for that reason this 1975 Arthur Erickson designed glass & concrete brutalist monument Read more...

Mid-century modern buildings Representing the only Statewide system of libraries in the United States, the Hawaii State Public Library System  has twenty-three branches on Oahu and fifty locations in total, with a handful of their modernist buildings still in use. We’ve listed a few of them and will continue to add more when we can …click on addresses below for Read more...

Mid-century modern buildings This simple two-story circular building acted as developer Irwin Molasky’s unique base of operations from where he oversaw the 1960s development and construction of his master-planned community, Paradise Palms, adjacent to the Las Vegas National Golf Course. The round, smoked glass structure – now used for medical offices –  is hard to miss when driving along S. Read more...

Mid-century churches A good chunk of Honolulu’s modern infrastructure was built during the 1950s and 60s resulting in more modernist churches per capita than most American cities. These places of worship vary greatly in design but have one thing in common; they’re all mid-century amazing! We’ve listed a bunch here (in no particular order) and elsewhere on the See Honolulu page. Read more...

Mid-century modern buildings/signs In the post-war years, as more families started traveling the United States by automobile,  Las Vegas proved to be a requisite stop along their way. Clusters of motor courts and motels (motor + hotel) popped up along east Fremont Street and to the north and south on Las Vegas Blvd. to meet the need for inexpensive lodgings. Read more...

Mid-century churches A good chunk of Honolulu’s modern infrastructure was built during the 1950s and 60s resulting in more modernist churches per capita than most American cities. These places of worship vary greatly in design but have one thing in common; they’re all mid-century amazing! We’ve listed a bunch here (in no particular order) and elsewhere on the See Honolulu Read more...

Mid-century modern buildings Vancouver Fire & Rescue currently has twenty-two Fire Halls serving the city, a handful of which were built (or, rebuilt) during the 1950s and 60s. Here’s a quick run down of these modest mid-century structures with corresponding photos… click on addresses below for Google Map locations. Fire Hall No. 2 (199 Main Street ) – Clean, simple, compact and Read more...

Mid-century modern buildings & art There are over 20 branches of the Vancouver Public Library  with only a handful from the mid-century still serving their original function and one, the former Central Library, which was repurposed. The best are listed here in no particular order with corresponding photos… click on addresses below for Google Map locations. Central Library (750 Burrard Street Read more...

Mid-century modern buildings Like the rest of America during the post-war boom years, Honolulu banks and their building headquarters were all about inspiring consumer confidence and optimism. Bold designs capturing the State’s growing presence in the world while looking towards the future. And like most mid-century modern construction in Honolulu, there are lots of banks to choose from so we’ve Read more...

Mid-century modern churches Modernist churches abound in Las Vegas but they don’t all adhere to the typical A-frame design of the period, especially when it comes to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS). The following three Mormon chapels and two others are highlighted because of their unique, non A-Frame, mid-century qualities… click on addresses below for Google Read more...

Mid-century modern buildings As construction boomed in the post-war years so too did the number of places to worship. Modernist A-Frames dominated the religious landscape on the West Coast but there were also more unique structures being built. We’ve listed a handful here (along with some A-Frames) with corresponding photos, and will continue to add more… click on addresses below for Read more...

Mid-century modern events As far as annual celebrations of all things mid-century modern go, Palm Springs Modernism Week is not to be missed. Held every February over the President’s Day holiday weekend, Modernism Week celebrates a movement defined by clean lines and elegant informality; think House Hunters meets Mad Men! It’s a 10 day plus event where thousands of enthusiasts Read more...

Mid-century modern buildings Within a few blocks of each other in downtown Vancouver are a handful of nice mid-century structures originally built to house the Western headquarters for some of Canada’s national banks… just click on addresses below for their Google Map locations. Bank of Canada Building (900 West Hastings Street ) – Designed by Thompson, Berwick & Pratt and Read more...

Mid-century bank buildings Bank design in the post-war years seemed to be about inspiring optimism and consumer confidence. Bigger was better so of course what better place than Las Vegas for these institutions to make their mark. The biggest and boldest designs are listed below in no particular order… click on addresses below for Google Map locations. Nevada Savings & Read more...

Mid-century modern home design This large commercial & residential design showroom features all the latest in modernist home renovation and decoration materials. From tiles and wallpaper to counter tops and carpeting, Modern Home has everything you’ll need to make your new or vintage property look positively retro, with the added bonus of also offering “real” vintage furniture and accessories, a Read more...