Aluminaire House™ History

Swiss-born architect Albert Frey (1903-1998), arguably the most significant architect to have worked in the Palm Springs region of California, established the style of architecture that has become known as “desert modernism.”

Having trained with Le Corbusier amongst a group of international colleagues, Frey brought a European sensibility when he came to New York and began collaborating with the American architect A. Lawrence Kocher in 1930. Over a period of roughly five years, the two made significant contributions to the American modernist movement, including the creation in 1931 of Aluminaire House, the icon of modernist design that has been recently donated to Palm Springs Art Museum.

In 1931, the Allied Arts and Industries and the Architectural League of New York unveiled the starkly modern, all metal ‘Aluminaire’ home, constructed mostly of aluminum and glass components. It was intended to be mass-produced and affordable, using inexpensive, off-the-shelf materials. Aluminaire caught the attention of the public so much that in just one week on exhibit, more than 100,000 visitors toured the home. 

The three-story house, assembled in just ten days, was designed by A. Lawrence Kocher, the managing editor of Architectural Record, and the then 28-year-old Swiss architect Albert Frey, who had recently immigrated to America after working in Paris for the great architect Le Corbusier. It was the first all-metal house constructed in the United States, and of such importance in the architectural world that images of it were featured in the prestigious exhibition, “The International Style – Architecture Since 1922” at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 1932.

Thank you to our supporters who made generous contributions to found and secure the Aluminaire House™ Exhibit

$500,000+
Elizabeth Edwards Harris

$200,000+
L.J. Cella
Modernism Week
Trina Turk
Linda Usher, Malcolm, Lauren, and Kristin Lambe

$100,000+
Aluminaire House Foundation
Meyerman Family Trust
Palm Springs Modern Committee
Palm Springs Preservation Foundation
Jim & Kathy Simpson

$50,000+
John Boccardo & Derek Esplin
Erich Burkhart & Doug Hudson
Christian and Cristina Cigrang
Jim Gaudineer & Tony Padilla
Marmol Radziner Architects

Additional funds provided by Steve Chase Fund for Acquisitions, Mary Silver Fund for Acquisitions, Acquisition Fund of Ronald and Sydney Bushman Trust, Acquisition Fund of Leo Stanton Singer and his children and grandchildren, William F. Bowld Jr. Fund for Acquisitions, Bequest of the Charles Rolle Trust, Michael Miller and Chris Shaver, Christiansen Collection of 20th Century California Art, Estate of Dr. Arthur Albert Woodward, 2023.