What goes into preparing a home for Palm Springs’ Modernism Week

The homes featured in Modernism Week look like they’re straight out of a design magazine, but have you ever wondered how they get to that point? 

Often times, it includes finding design inspiration in everyday things, preparing for months worth of renovations and dealing with supply-chain issues and delays during the age of COVID-19.

Before Modernism Week kicks off on Thursday and thousands walk through a number of homes, local interior designers gave The Desert Sun a look at the behind-the-scenes work that takes place months before the architectural event.

Finishing touches to the Limon property take place in preparation of Modernism Week in Palm Springs, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022.

It’s not every day a seven-bedroom private escape ends up as a featured project for Modernism Week, but Kevin Kemper and Howard Hawkes of H3K Home+Design couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make a splash.

The Limón property was constructed in 1964 and originally built as an apartment house named Stuart Manor. It’s one of the most unique buildings in Palm Springs because it’s an all-steel structure, according to the Modernism Week team.

Candido Galeno of Glenn Strickland Painting applies a fresh coat of paint to the trim of the Limon property in preparation for Modernism Week in Palm Springs, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022.

“Normally, with the featured home, it’s actually a [single] home,” Kemper said. “This project is very different for us where it actually was built as six studio apartments then over the years has had various incarnations, from being hospitality [focused] to being a recovery center to being residential.”

Kemper and Hawkes have had several homes they’ve designed, including their own, included in Modernism Week over the past decade. The two were introduced to the Limón property in 2020 and fell in love with it immediately, they said. After the space was sold to a new client, work started in early 2021.