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Mid-century modern buildings Near the end of Kalakaua Avenue, past Waikiki towards the base of Diamond Head, sits a strip of mid-century buildings on the Makai side (ocean side) of Kapiolani Park. Plantation style and contemporary houses also fill the neighborhood further along, but for our purposes it’s the mid-rise and high-rise buildings that give the “Gold Coast” its tropical modernist Read more...
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Vintage fashion and more The thrift store to end all thrift stores, the majority of Goodwill Hawaii’s vintage merchandise – which includes retro furniture, housewares and some really great vintage Aloha wear – comes from donations. They are also largely a volunteer-run operation which enables them to put their proceeds straight back into the community which assists those in need Read more...
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Mid-century/googie buildings The wacky architectural stylings of Googie can be defined by its Atomic Age-inspired geometric shapes, exaggerated rooflines and generous use of glass. Or you can just think The Jetsons meets modernist coffee shop. In fact, the word “Googie” comes from the original 1949 John Launter designed West Hollywood coffee shop, “Googie’s.” Unfortunately, that establishment was torn down years ago. In Palm Springs you’d Read more...
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Mid-century/googie buildings When defining the wacky architectural stylings of Googie, just think The Jetsons meets modernist coffee shop! In fact, the word Googie comes from the original 1949 John Launter designed West Hollywood coffee shop, “Googie’s.” Unfortunately, that establishment was torn down years ago. Las Vegas still has an array of eye-popping Googie buildings though – defined by their Atomic Age-inspired Read more...
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Mid-century modern churches Built on land donated by “Mr. Las Vegas,” Moe Dalitz (in a bid to improve his Mob-centric image, no doubt), pioneering modernist Paul R. Williams was enlisted by the Catholic Church to design the Guardian Angel Shrine in 1963. Raising the stakes on your typical mid-century church A-frame, though, Williams’ exaggerated Googie-like design did not go unnoticed Read more...
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Modern & Retro Inspired Furniture CLOSED IN 2025 – Visit their store in Palm Desert. 74180 Highway 111, Palm Desert, CA 92260 If you’re looking to renovate, redesign or redecorate your mid-century modern or retro inspired home, this is the place to come. Howard Hawkes and Kevin Kemper (the H&K in H3K) specialize in upscale design consultation and project management, Read more...
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Hawaiiana & mid-century collectibles The Hawaii All-Collectors One Day Show and Wiki Wiki One Day Vintage Shows take place throughout the year at the Blaisdell Center Exhibition Hall and if you’re lucky enough to be in Honolulu when they’re happening we highly recommend checking them out. For strictly vintage, the Wiki Wiki shows in March, October and November are where Read more...
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Mid-century modern buildings Oahu’s modernist architecture was not limited to commercial and residential developments in the 1950s and 60s, in fact, some of the island’s most inspired mid-century designs could be – and fortunately still can be – found in its memorial parks. Like the Valley of the Temples, also situated on Oahu’s windward (eastern) side, the modernist structures at the Read more...
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Mid-century accommodations Designed by Herbert Burns and built in 1951 (to which Burns later added a second floor at the behest of the owner), The Holiday House was recently reimagined as a designer boutique hotel and boasts 28 rooms, a restaurant & bar, and lush landscaping surrounding a common pool area. Located in the Historic Tennis Club neighborhood, mere steps Read more...
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Mid-century buildings Built in 1954 for the famed Holsum Bakery, this historic property is actually comprised of 3 separate yet connected buildings and was completely renovated in 2004 when it re-opened as the Holsum Lofts, a live/work space for artists and designers. Its original clock & iconic signage were also restored. Today the property is home to design group Henrikson Read more...
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Tropical modernism structures This one’s for you, Tikiphiles! In 1962 the designer of the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Alfred Preis, was enlisted to create an eye-catching entry building for the flourishing Honolulu Zoo, resulting in an awesome Polynesian-inspired Hawaiian modern undulating A-Frame, with design elements not dissimilar to that of his USS Arizona Memorial. This island-style structure served as a Read more...
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Mid-century/desert modern buildings Although not located in Palm Springs proper, we have to give a shout out to the Hotel Lautner; a mid-century modern enthusiast’s dream accommodation situated in the middle of the desert. Desert Hot Springs to be exact. Designed by renowned modernist architect John Lautner (the Elrod House, the Bob Hope House) in 1947 as part of a Read more...
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Mid-century & vintage curiosities Vintage, mid-century, industrial and … taxidermy? If these words are in your wheelhouse then Hound & Quail is definitely worth checking out. Curating a unique collection of diverse vintage items from Hawaii, the mainland and around the world, you can expect the unexpected here. Mid-century sofas? Sure. Vintage filing cabinet? Yep. Anatomical skeleton model? Absolutely! They Read more...
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Mid-century buildings Designed in the streamline moderne style by one of the most prolific theater designers of the mid twentieth century, S. Charles Lee, the Huntridge Theater opened its doors in 1944 and was an immediate success, screening movies to the public – in one form or another – for nearly 50 years. Through the 1990s the theater was supported Read more...
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Mid-century modern buildings Designed by noted modernist architect Vladimir Ossipoff for computer giant IBM in the early 1960s, this iconic building exudes tropical modernism primarily because of its unique precast concrete honeycomb facade; a brise soleil designed to keep the structure cool as well as to look like the automated punch cards synonymous with the computer industry at the time. The building Read more...
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Mid-century fashions & housewares Located around the corner from the Bootlegger Tiki bar and next to Ernest Coffee, this unique vintage shop offers a varied assortment of apparel, housewares and select furniture for those yearning to live the perfect, atomic-age lifestyle. From dinnerware, ceramics and Tiki mugs to Aloha wear, rat pack-era skirts, blouses, suits & ties, to groovy furniture and other wonderful knick-knacks you Read more...
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Modernism photography At photographer Gary Dorothy’s Imageville Gallery you’ll find hundreds of striking desert wilderness images sharing space with his architectural photography. Combining nature and mid-century modern has been Dorothy’s gift since opening Imageville in 2000, and as his many repeat clients will surely attest, Dorothy’s unique limited edition large-format canvases and smaller glossy prints are eye candy for the Read more...
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Mid-century accommodations The former “Golden Palm Villa,” a 1958 mid-century modern Inn, reinvented itself in the 90s as Palm Springs’ leading clothing optional hotel for gay men. INNdulge has since become one of the places to stay in the Warm Sands area for gay modernists. The hotel has 24 updated rooms and suites (some with kitchens), an original kidney shaped Read more...
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Vintage mid-century collectibles Clocks aside, these guys have a remarkable array of interesting vintage items that have been lovingly restored, each one seemingly with its own unique origin story. From vintage Coca-Cola branded collectibles to mid-century advertising props, as well as the usual antique store bric-a-brac, the friendly owners and staff also seem to go out of their way to educate Read more...
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Mid-century inspired design/books Whatever was fabulous about the 1950s, 60s and 70s, this busy boutique store has it in spades; architectural books, design books, Hollywood glam books, Tiki culture books. Did we mention they sell books? In addition, Just Fabulous has a great selection of retro-inspired greeting cards, gift ware and home accessories, with the odd piece of Jonathan Adler Read more...
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Vintage mid-century & Hawaiiana On Oahu’s windward side there’s a handful of nice shops that specialize in mid-century collectibles and Hawaiiana. Kauilua Pickers (in Kailua) offers up nearly thirty different dealers under one compact roof, each displaying their vintage wares which include Tikis, Polynesian restaurant ephemera, homeware items and highly sought after 1940s and 1950s Fire King dishware. Located in the parking lot Read more...
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Mid-century modern buildings It’s been called the Miracle Mile of the Pacific, a reference to the mid-Wilshire district of Los Angeles where a plethora of deco, streamline moderne and mid-century modern architecture styles have come together over the years. On Honolulu’s tree lined Kapi’olani Boulevard – between Kalakaua and King Streets – there are no less than a dozen modernist structures Read more...
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Mid-century/desert modern houses Named for Pittsburgh department store magnate Edgar J. Kaufmann, this “machine in the desert” as it’s been called, was designed by famed modernist architect Richard Neutra as a winter retreat for the Kaufmann family, and completed in 1946. It’s been said that no house at the time had done as much to advance the modernist movement as this one, Read more...
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Mid-century accommodations Situated on over 2 and a half manicured acres in South Palm Springs, L’Horizon Hotel was designed by noted modernist architect William F. Cody in 1952 as a getaway retreat for a big time television producer and his Hollywood friends. Beautifully updated in 2015, yet retaining all its mid-century modern amazingness, this 22 room, high end “hotel” has Read more...
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Mid-century/googie buildings Currently pulling double duty as a Visitors Center and the gateway through which guests can enter the Neon Museum’s “boneyard,” the La Concha Visitors Center started out as the iconic lobby to the La Concha Motel, designed by noted modernist architect Paul R. Williams, in 1961. Its unique design stood out on The Strip during the 1960s-90s where Read more...
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Tiki Culture/Polynesian Pop The Tiki Bar and Restaurant at La Mariana Sailing Club has been serving up the best Mai Tai and Zombie cocktails on the island since 1957 and is one the last vestiges of Honolulu’s glory days when Polynesian Pop themed bars & restaurants seemed to be everywhere. Hawaiiana abounds at this tropical watering hole where many of the Read more...
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Vintage mid-century collectibles Laura’s is jam packed with such a diverse array of retro, antique and mid-century collectibles that you could easily spend several hours (or more!) sifting through it all. Their showroom, which opened in 2014, downtown, has since moved to Decatur but is still filled with vintage housewares, glassware, tinware, toys, wall art, Tiki collectibles, vintage Vegas memorabilia and much more. Owners Read more...
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Mid-century modern buildings The 1400 block of Liliha Street – between N. Vineyard Blvd. and Kiapu Place – is a delight of mixed-use and smaller low rise commercial buildings, some dating back to the 1950s. Most have seen better days but the area is definitely worth a look, especially for the modernist library. Listed from SW to NE … click Read more...
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Mid-century & vintage antiques Here’s an antique store your grandmother might feel at home in that’s brimming with reasonably priced second hand items such as home furnishings, accessories, jewelry, art, collectibles and various other knick-knacks. Mostly consignment items here, they also have a lot of non-mid-century merchandise so you might have to spend some time sifting through things to find Read more...
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Mid-century/desert modern houses Located in the rocky northwest corner of Palm Springs, just south of Chino Canyon on the edge of the Little Tuscany neighborhood, sit half a dozen or so architecturally significant private homes built between the mid 1940s and the late 1960s. Although some of the houses are not as visible from the street as most modernists would Read more...
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Vintage Las Vegas memorabilia This cozy store has the misfortune of being located across from the extremely famous and extremely popular Pawn Stars’ Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, (and Pawn Plaza ) but it should definitely not be overlooked. Lost Vegas Antiques is filled with all sorts of Vintage Vegas curiosities and collectibles from the Rat Pack and Mob eras Read more...
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Vintage eats Luv-It Frozen Custard has been in business and in the same location since 1973! That’s practically historic status when it comes to Las Vegas and its penchant for knocking things down. They offer walk-up counter window service (no seating) and boast the best freshly-made frozen custard we’ve ever had (check their website for the daily specials)… and if you Read more...
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Vintage mid-century antiques A large store with multiple vendors, Main Street Peddlers is like a scaled down version of the Charleston Antique Mall but with the convenience of being downtown. There are multiple vendors peddling their kitschy wares here, many of which include vintage mid-century items like home accessories, fashions, art, lighting, glassware, pottery, curios, Tiki memorabilia and more. Located right Read more...
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Mid-century modern buildings Located northeast of downtown Honolulu, the residential area of Makiki (not to be confused with Makiki Heights) surrounding the Makiki District Park was mostly built up during the late 1950s through the 1970s and is a treasure trove of mid-century tropical modernist low-rise, mid-rise and even high-rise residential buildings by some of Honolulu’s foremost architects. Modernists could easily Read more...
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Vintage apparel & housewares Martin’s Mart is a true “thrift store.” Nothing fancy or repurposed here, just a genuine place to find nice vintage, gently used clothing and housewares at a good price. Located on Antique Alley downtown in the Arts District. Read more...
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Vintage lounges & bars When name-dropping the likes of Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Elizabeth Taylor or Liza Minnelli, you’re bound to raise a few eyebrows, but for local hotelier Mel Haber it’s all in a days work. For over 40 years Haber has welcomed guests to his Palm Springs landmark hotel, the Ingleside Inn, which dates back to the 1920s, Read more...
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Mid-century inspired art Using vintage metal as his canvas, artist Michael Weems combines iconic mid-century imagery with recycled automobile parts to create what he cleverly calls, “Autoerotica.” The same cheeky verbiage emblazoned on his gallery window will no doubt draw you in, where more unique works of art by Weems are on display, such as tableware, glassware, jewelry and sculpture. All Read more...
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Mid-century/desert modern buildings Vacation rentals abound in the Coachella Valley and condos are a great option if you’re planning to stay for more than a week at a time. Plus, if you’re looking for a spot that boasts a little more architectural significance (and what self-respecting modernist isn’t?), Palm Springs does not disappoint. Vacation rental condos at the following half dozen Read more...
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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...
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Vintage mid-century collectibles If you’re in the market for repurposed memorabilia and vintage collectibles, then you’ve come to the right place. Modern Mantiques specializes in unique, quality, one of a kind treasures that range from classic art deco to mid-century modern and everything in between. They buy, sell and trade items such as classic automobiles, slot machines, militaria, sports memorabilia, vintage toys, Read more...
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Midcentury Modern Tours If you like the idea of taking a midcentury modern driving tour of Palm Springs’ timeless architecture but would rather go at your own pace, you can either bring Modtraveler.net with you … or check out Modern Tours Palm Springs! Their self-guided multimedia architectural tours require a smart phone (don’t forget your charger!) and can take between Read more...
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Mid-century & vintage furniture The best of the 1950s, 60s and 70s for furniture, lighting and accessories, Modern Way is a Palm Springs institution and has been repeatedly voted “Best Vintage Store” in the Coachella Valley. You’ll find mid-century staples like Eames, Knoll, Panton and Saarinen along side rare(er) one-of-a-kind items, and for modernist audiophiles, Modern Way even carries vintage Read more...
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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...
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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...
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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...