The Koerner House

A design beacon of the midcentury modern era, the historic Koerner House maintains a lasting nod to the celebrated architectural style of E. Stewart Williams, who was instrumental in shaping the architectural energy for which the Coachella Valley is known. The home has been fully restored to its original 1955 footprint and features a number of familiar hallmarks of a minimalist era, including slump block walls, sandblasted walnut board-and-batten paneling, an asymmetrical and cantilevered roof and an 8×8 grid that invites clean, geometric lines and highly functional spaces.

The home, included in the U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Register of Historic Places, also features eye-catching elements of grandeur. Adjacent to the primary suite, sits a unique, indoor-outdoor atrium encased in glass and serenaded by a trickling waterfall. Hovering over the home’s pool, and growing through its extended roof, are a trio of hearty Washingtonia filifera palm trees. And throughout the home, dramatic steel-framed, floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall glass serves as a lens to the ever-impressive mountain landscape beyond. 

Set against a magnificent mountainous backdrop, the exterior gardens and landscape that surround the Koerner House are nothing short of sensational. Native stone and sculpted earth mounds anchor the lush exterior in its midcentury heritage, complemented by a large swimming pool, an elongated seating area covered by an open beamed terrace, and what feels like a secret garden that creates a perimeter around the backyard. Designed by Garrett Eckbo, the landscape includes mature olive trees that offer shade and texture, and blue palms that climb through the roof as an exclamation point upon entry.