Like them or not, the flat-roofed homes with their boisterous, two-story A-frame gables that plunge into the ground have emerged as a Palm Springs icon, and even have a pet name -- the 'Swiss Miss.' Specializing in Designer … The Gands, to be fair, take an even-handed approach in writings about the A-frames. Their search for answers led them into the bowels of Palm Springs City Hall, and through an unnerving encounter with an indignant, and legendary, architect. Try on 4 glasses for free with TRY AT HOME!

Choose your style wherever you are and on the go, using VIU’s virtual fitting tool! When they met during lunch at an event sponsored by PS Modcom (the Palm Springs Modernism Committee), Joan and Gary said how much they admired his work. They are nothing like any other house in their neighborhood, the upscale Vista Las Palmas, which started construction in 1958. High-quality acetate, wire and titanium glasses from 145 EUR incl. Owners love their soaring living areas and the views they get through 18 feet of glass.

We offer designer eyewear, sunglasses and prescription lenses at Spectacular Shades in Palm Desert, CA. A band of stone wraps around the residence and visually integrates the home with its natural surroundings. There is at least one thing about the Swiss Miss everyone can agree about. "Both futuristic and Tiki at the same time -- by way of Innsbruck, Austria," they wrote in an online article for JetSetModern.com. Get your 4 favourite styles sent to you now so you can try them at home. "Amid mystery and misgivings, the chalet-like Swiss Miss homes have fans soaring with affection This website and its entire contents is copyright © Eichler Network 2018. "When you're doing Tiki and stuff like that, most architects wouldn't do that," he says. Palm Springs became a health resort, its mineral springs a sanitorium for the treatment of tuberculosis. Real Swiss chalets, of course, are much more rustic and heavy-timbered. 760-568-4500. Set against a stunning mountain backdrop, the home originally designed in 1958 has been completely reimagined and updated by its current owners. Choose your style wherever you are and on the go, using VIU’s virtual fitting tool!


Singer/celebrity Sonny Bono was the 16th Mayor of Palm Springs from 1988 to 1992.
Palm Springs was incorporated in 1938. Why were these homes so different from all other homes?

"To us," says Gary, "it's more tropical." Das Stadtgebiet hat eine Größe von 245,984 Quadratkilometern. This chalet-style, A-frame roof extends straight into the ground.

"It's not really architecture.

All rights reserved. But, she says of their A-frame, "This just has its own special vibe."

Joan and Gary Gand, who have done more than anyone to love and publicize these ungainly mutts of modernism, see their house as less Swiss Miss than Fiji Frolic.

In the Chicago suburb of Riverwoods, where they keep their other home, they helped found the preservation organization Chicago Bauhaus and Beyond to protect modern homes designed by the architectural firm of Keck and Keck Brothers from McMansion-ization. It's like Disneyland. If your glasses aren’t perfect, we’ll take them back within 30 days, for free (in EU countries). Photo: Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism Draftsman Charles Dubois designed this chalet-like "Swiss Miss" home for the Alexander Construction Company. lenses.

And, the inquisitive Gands learned soon after buying their home in 2003, therein lay a mystery. Like most modern architects, he takes his work seriously. And the Swiss Misses, he says, simply aren't serious. 73910 El Paseo Palm Desert CA 92260. pcampbell@dc.rr.com . To some people, they seem wacky. SWISS DESIGN – HANDCRAFTED TO PERFECTION. Gary, a well-known sound engineer, and Joan, who helps run the family business, Gand Music and Sound, take modern architecture seriously. And in the South Seas, gabled dwellings usually float high above the ground on pilings.) They also noticed how many A-frames could be spotted in Vista Las Palmas -- they have counted 15 -- and noted that they are apparently the only such houses in town. Our Customer Solution Team is available from Monday to Friday 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. In Palm Springs, they fell in love with the Swiss Misses while searching for a desert home -- even though everyone else they met "was focusing in the butterfly roofs," Joan says. Call 760-568-4500 to find your pair. They discovered other architectural landmarks with a South Seas motif, including the Royal Hawaiian Estates, a condo project at the south end of town, and the Caliente Tropics motel.