Palm Spring’s “Modernism Week” showcases Midcentury style

Architecture enthusiasts will descend on Palm Springs this weekend, looking to relish in the Midcentury Modern style that has become synonymous with the region and recently produced a record $9 million sale.

On Thursday, the desert city kicked off its 13th iteration of “Modernism Week, ” an 11-day festival that features bus tours of popular Midcentury homes in the area, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The region’s obsession with the style can be seen in the latest residential real estate trade to break a new record.

A home in the Old Las Palmas neighborhood recently sold for $9 million, a new record. The Midcentury home was designed by Buff & Hensman in 1969 and recently renovated by Marmol Radziner. Originally built for actor Laurence Harvey, the home features stone finishes and sits on a 1.5-acre lot.

Another Midcentury home, designed by John Lautner, held the previous record. Dubbed the Elrod House, it sold for $5.5 million in 2003.

The festival has been an economic boom for the area, pulling in $47.2 million in revenue last year. Many of the hundreds of thousands of visitors come from the East Coast, according to Gary Johns of the Paul Kaplan Group.

It’s also one of the many festivals that’s been a driving economic force for the region. Festivals like Coachella and Stagecoach have proven to be pivotal for the region’s short-term rental market, with some homeowners pulling in as much as $100,000 for a single weekend. [LAT] — Natalie Hoberman