{"id":84219,"date":"2011-10-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sunset.com\/home-garden\/idea-houses"},"modified":"2025-07-25T15:21:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T22:21:12","slug":"home-garden-idea-houses","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.sunset.com\/home-garden\/idea-houses","title":{"rendered":"The Idea Hub"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Innovative design and genius decorating ideas are around every corner in our Idea House showcase homes","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"landing-page.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"_should_modify_publish_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"layout":[67],"class_list":["post-84219","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-idea-houses","layout-article"],"acf":{"display_row_fields":"yes","page_subheadline":"Innovative design and genius decorating ideas are around every corner in our Idea Hub showcase homes","display_row_1":"yes","stories_row_1_top":[{"ID":190731,"post_author":"16","post_date":"2025-07-23 03:00:00","post_date_gmt":"2025-07-23 10:00:00","post_content":"\n

You can thank Dinah Shore for the newest Sunset Idea House<\/a>. In the mid-1960s, the singer and actress commissioned famed desert modern architect Donald Wexler to build her a desert getaway in Palm Springs<\/a>. The 7,000-square-foot estate, a masterpiece of open plan design, with floor-to-ceiling windows framing generous views of the San Jacinto Mountains from nearly every room, poured concrete floors, and extensive use of steel so impressed New Yorker Marnie McBryde on a tour of the home that she decided to commission Wexler to design a house for her to build back in East Hampton. Wexler is known for pioneering the use of steel in residential architecture and for his striking buildings, such as the Palm Springs International Airport, the Alexander houses, and other public and private buildings in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lance
Lance O\u2019Donnell (of o2 Architecture), Marnie McBryde, and Marc Sanders.<\/figcaption>

Photo by Thomas J. Story. Artwork by Sebastiaan Knot (left) and Glen Wexler (right).<\/p><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just fell in love with Wexler\u2019s vision of desert modernism, and it just spoke much more closely to my aesthetic and the way I like living,\u201d says McBryde. \u201cI love the simplicity and elegance of it.\u201d Working with Palm Springs architect Lance O\u2019Donnell<\/a>, of o2 Architecture, Wexler designed a low-slung glass and steel house for a site in the country with sweeping meadow views. That house was never built. Wexler passed away in 2015. On a beach walk in the Hamptons, McBryde asked a friend what he thought she should do with the unbuilt Wexler. His answer: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you take it back home?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Idea
The last lost Donald Wexler house sits amongst boulders at the base of the San Jacinto Mountains on the last view lot in Palm Springs.<\/figcaption>

Thomas J. Story<\/p><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Soon McBryde was back in Palm Springs looking for the perfect site to build the last Wexler, eventually finding a view lot in the Desert Palisades development<\/a> just up the hill from Little Tuscany on the north end of town. It was represented by real estate developer Marc Sanders, who not only had the site but shared a love for Wexler: He was in the process of developing what was to become the second-to-last Wexler. McBryde and Sanders hit it off, picked a lot in Desert Palisades, and the last lost Wexler was on its way to becoming reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Palm
Trex decking makes for a cool walkway by the pool while the brand\u2019s railing lets in the classic Palm Springs view, which includes the San Jacinto Mountains and a home designed by Al Beadle and Lance O\u2019Donnell, o2 Architecture, in the distance.<\/figcaption>

Thomas J. Story<\/p><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Like so many visionary home designs in Palm Springs, the new home is adept at framing the desert landscape and offers a refreshingly intentional and practical approach to living. Backing up against the mountain range, the sites in Desert Palisades are dotted throughout a dramatic boulder field that offers sweeping views of the city below, from downtown to the airport of Wexler fame<\/a> to the Santa Rosa Mountains to the south.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Palm
Every room, including the office, has the same stunning view and opens to the outside.<\/figcaption>

Photo by Thomas J. Story. Artwork by Glen Wexler.<\/p><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The primary suite was flipped from one end to another to give its occupants the best view of the city. The layout is extremely democratic: Nearly every room, from the secondary and guest bedrooms to the office, all share that same dramatic view, with doors leading past pocket gardens to the outdoor living area<\/a>. The open plan design is anchored by a great room with a fireplace and seating bench that seems to stretch from the interior out through the glass to the valley below. A shaded dining area tucked under beams leads to a pool and viewing decks. \u201cA lot of houses with beautiful landscapes will be sited to favor one room or another with the best view,\u201d says O\u2019Donnell. \u201cBut not this house. No matter what bedroom you\u2019re in, you\u2019re seeing the desert in all its glory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Idea
Western Window Systems\u2019 Classic Line seamlessly frames the dramatic stone fireplace, echoing the mountains outside.<\/figcaption>

Thomas J. Story<\/p><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI remember sitting with Donald Wexler, having coffee and talking about life and about getting old and time passing, and I made a promise to him that this house would be built,\u201d says McBryde. While Wexler didn\u2019t live to see his dream realized, this home is a testament to the longstanding principles of modernist design, but with smart, contemporary adjustments to make it a timeless, efficient, eminently livable space<\/a> that\u2019s human-centered with no reference to the past or future, but to what any homeowner needs in the here and now: views of the surrounding landscape, spaces for privacy, spaces for gathering, and an experience that allows for life to flow and time to pass with grace and beauty\u2014unassailable good ideas for a house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here's How We Got the Look<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
<\/a>
<\/span>