1207 South Calle de Maria, Palm Springs | Deepwell Estates
If the Sutter Residence came with a recipe card, the three most significant ingredients would include concrete, steel and glass. The two-bedroom home, built inside the Deepwell Estates community in Palm Springs, sits directly beside the historically and architecturally-significant Koerner House, a residence that befits desert modernism albeit with a bit more minimalist subtlety than its neighbor.
While the two homes share master architects and share master interior designers, they don’t share the same owners. So, the commissions look and feel a little different, as they should. But they are a rarity in the world of historic preservation, these next door neighbors that share the same world-class design teams.
At PS Properties, it has been a unique honor to form connections with both homes. Their influence on desert modernism is not lost on our team, even despite their differences and unique features. While each offers up its own story tied to the architectural past of Palm Springs, each also offers a primer on innovation and fearless design for which this area is known.
The foundational thread that ties the two homes together is a familiar name. Architect E. Stewart Williams, a celebrated and influential modernist, brought the Sutter Residence to life a few years after finishing the Koerner House.
View the Sutter Residence listing
A Different Side Of E. Stewart Williams
Built just five years after the neighboring Koerner House, the Sutter Residence is squarely part of the Post-World War II Palm Springs architectural period for which it was evaluated for historic designation. It is considered a boom period for modern architecture, infusing Palm Springs with one of the most robust collections of midcentury architecture.
The home’s rare Brutalist style, not often seen in Palm Springs or in residential architecture at all, sets it apart during that 1945-1969 time period. And, its industrial feel is a marker not only of its style, but of the era in which it was designed and built.
E. Stewart Williams wasn’t an architect who took many residential commissions. The Koerner House, just a few years prior, was one of the few exceptions. Frank Sinatra’s Twin Palms home, for which the entertainer commissioned the firm where E. Stewart Williams practiced, was one of the architect’s early commissions. Its unique design, capped by a desert-first “shed roof,” coupled with the star power of the owner, catapulted the home as a trendsetter in desert modern design.
What followed was a series of projects, both residential and commercial, that offered opportunities for E. Stewart Williams to shape the indelible architectural landscape of Palm Springs and sprinkle his signature elsewhere. His portfolio of work locally includes the Coachella Valley Savings and Loan, the Palm Springs Desert Museum and the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway Mountain station, which ferries people to the state park at the top of Mount San Jacinto.
From a commercial and civic perspective, E. Stewart Williams designs were instrumental in shaping the architectural energy for which the Coachella Valley is known.
The initial intention for the Sutter Residence was for it to be a weekend home for owners Theodore and Marguerite. They wanted something simple, something that wouldn’t require any live-in staff.
Designed With Intention
Theodore and Marguerite Sutter didn’t want the home they planned to build inside Deepwell Estates to be anything other than thoughtfully simple. At about 2,610 square-feet, the Sutters planned to use the Palm Springs home as a weekend retreat away from their Spanish Colonial in Los Angeles until Theodore was ready to retire from his position with a pioneering oil drilling equipment company known as Bake Oil Tools, Inc.
The couple would expect visitors from time to time, but they didn’t plan to entertain, which worked well for the shape of the parcel and the vision E. Stewart Williams had for the home’s footprint. To accommodate occasional guests, most often the Sutter’s grandchildren, Williams added built-in teak seating in the home’s living room and a set of bunk beds in the study that could fold away when they weren’t in use.
Built-ins became an E. Stewart Williams calling card, as was his willingness to try something different.
Building An Architecturally-Significant Home
The parcel the Sutters purchased came with some setback requirements that led Williams to design the home in somewhat of a square. It was the most efficient use of the space, and Williams imagined the home’s footprint as one that drew attention to a large swimming pool on the backside of the property. Williams also had to consider how to offer a sense of privacy, since the home was positioned on a corner lot, without closing it off entirely.
That consideration gave rise to distinctive modern design elements that starkly set it apart from its neighbor.
Where the Koerner House embraced a fluid sense of complementary indoor-outdoor living, the Sutter Residence faced inward. Where the Koerner House blended with its natural environment and utilized natural materials, the Sutter Residence embraced the raw industrial feel of Brutalist architecture by employing concrete, steel and aluminum. In fact, the style of the Sutter Residence is reflective of the commercial and civic projects Williams designed — from the Crafton Hills College campus to Temple Isaiah and beyond.
The historical record notes that as a result, the Sutter and Koerner homes sit as side-by-side alter egos of one another.
Modernist Finishes, Outdoors
A trio of modernist design elements were folded into the Sutter Residence at the outset that further stamp the home into the architectural record of Palm Spring real estate. It began with the home’s entryway.
Williams designed an aluminum gate that led to a glass-enclosed patio. When the sun hit the gate at various times throughout the day, it would cast different shapes across the entryway. And the glass enclosure provided privacy from the street without inhibiting the abundant natural light. Views of the San Jacinto Mountains are visible as a visitor makes their way up the front walkway to the home’s entrance.
Another notable design element was the addition of a Maltese block wall along one side of the pool, to create privacy without preventing light or air to pass through. The wall was removed in the early 90s to accommodate for an expansion of the pool area, but it was replaced with corrugated aluminum to complement siding used elsewhere on the home’s perimeter.
On top of that wall sat steel beams from a metal trellis that covers the entirety of the pool area, offering a reminder of the industrialist vision from which the home was designed.
Warming A Concrete Cube
It could be easy to assume that the Sutter Residence lacked warmth or charm, due to its Brutalist architectural designation and its industrial ingredients. But that’s where a master designer leaves a real imprint. Arthur Elrod, who Williams worked with on the Koerner House, brought his brilliance to the Sutter Residence to ensure that the home’s design was both stunning and livable.
Where concrete walls found their way indoors, Elrod looked for ways to complement that minimalism while also warming the space. Interiors were kept simple, meaning off-white ruled the space with accents of lemon and burnt orange.
Exterior landscaping reflected that same level of simplicity. A lawn, a handful of palms and a few planters finished the street-facing exterior, a configuration that has remained rooted over the decades.
Based on its architectural significance, the integrity of the property, and the strong public support it had for historic designation, the Sutter Residence was unanimously designated as a Class 2 Historic Resource in 2021. That designation only adds to the significance of the prolific E. Stewart Williams design portfolio.
And when set against the neighboring Koerner House, which was also recognized with a historic designation, it shows the breadth of character a single architect can achieve while shaping and influencing desert modernism. With the Koerner and Sutter homes alone, it is easy to see the dynamic variety that midcentury design can take.
And in Palm Springs, we’re lucky to be surrounded by countless award-winning examples that showcase the architectural prowess and historic significance of a nostalgic era of design.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who designed the Sutter Residence?
The Sutter Residence was designed by E. Stewart Williams, who built it five years after the neighboring Koerner House. Arthur Elrod, who had worked with Williams on the Koerner House, handled the interiors. Williams rarely took residential commissions, which makes the pair of houses on South Calle de Maria unusual.
What architectural style is the Sutter Residence?
The Sutter Residence is a rare residential example of Brutalism, a style seldom seen in Palm Springs and uncommon in houses generally. Williams built it from concrete, steel and aluminum, echoing the commercial and civic projects in his portfolio such as the Crafton Hills College campus and Temple Isaiah, rather than the natural materials he used next door.
How is the Sutter Residence different from the Koerner House?
The two houses are described in the historical record as side-by-side alter egos. Where the Koerner House blends with its environment and opens fluidly to the outdoors, the Sutter Residence faces inward and embraces a raw industrial character. The corner lot and its setback requirements led Williams to design a roughly square plan that gives privacy without closing the house off.
Is the Sutter Residence historically designated?
Yes. The Sutter Residence was unanimously designated a Class 2 Historic Resource in 2021, based on its architectural significance, the integrity of the property and strong public support for the designation.
Who were the original owners of the Sutter Residence?
Theodore and Marguerite Sutter commissioned the roughly 2,610-square-foot house as a weekend retreat from their Spanish Colonial home in Los Angeles. They wanted something simple that would not require live-in staff, so Williams added built-in teak seating in the living room and fold-away bunk beds in the study for visiting grandchildren.
PS Properties, also known as Patrick Stewart Properties, has been serving the Palm Springs and Coachella Valley area for more than 20 years. Principals Patrick Jordan and Stewart Smith guide a team of experts who specialize in offering clients guidance when buying or selling distinctive modern, luxury, architecturally-significant or historically-significant homes. In a rare class of Palm Springs area realtors, PS Properties has been included in the $100 million club for three years running and has accrued more than $1 billion in real estate transactions. Learn more at https://www.patrickstewartproperties.com/.
