The Getaway
This midcentury vacation home with a golf course view provides its owners with a change of pace — and style.
To reclaim its midcentury edge, this 1960 home in Palm Springs needed a thorough restoration inside and out.
FOR MOST OF THE YEAR, BLAINE SILER AND HUSBAND LINCOLN BOGARD
spend their days in a 1,300-square-foot, two-bedroom, one-bath Craftsman bungalow built in 1912. Painted bubble-gum pink on the outside, the home, in Martinez, California, hasn’t had many upgrades since 1930, and retains a classic charm.
The couple’s vacation home, in Blaine’s words, is “in pretty stark contrast” to their bungalow. Built in 1960, the 2,800-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bath home was suffering from too many upgrades. This home needed restoration inside and out to reclaim its modern edge.
“The previous owners had attempted to give it a Mediterranean exterior facelift; it looked a bit like The Olive Garden,” Blaine shares. “However, the interior was bipolar with both modern and Tuscan finishes.”
Since purchasing the home in 2015, Blaine and Lincoln have worked to transform it from the setting for a boisterous family dinner to a space where you could easily picture classic film stars gathering for cocktails (in fact, the home is located in a neighborhood that once counted Clark Gable and Rock Hudson as residents). Achieving this transformation has been a long process, and one with no clear end in sight.
“We've been putting our hearts into the home since we got the keys,” Blaine says. “I feel like a home is a never-ending work in progress. Eventually, I would like to replace the Cortina Grande Azrock composition tile with real terrazzo. I would love for the living room wall of windows to be a stacked slider or accordion folding door so that the wall could open the room onto the patio.”
Faux stonework was removed to reveal original stacked Roman slump brick. Beneath faux travertine tile, the homeowners discovered laminate flooring that had been glued down, a particularly challenging aspect of the renovation. “Tip: Never install or buy a home with glued-down laminate wood flooring,” Blaine advises. “It was an absolute nightmare to remove it.”
Throughout the home’s interior and exterior, finishes were stripped away, contemporary upgrades were cast aside (like in the kitchen, which you can read about on page 28), and original design gems were discovered. Brick was freed from its drywall covering. The original jalousie windows were restored to perfect working
“That house is my favorite place to be.”
order and given new tempered glass louvers. Soon, the garage will be transformed back into a carport, a desert must, according to Blaine. “The desert can get crazy hot,” he shares. “I’ve learned if it’s an August or September 120-degree day, it can seriously be 160 degrees in the garage. I think a carport is really the way to go.”
The reinvigorated modern space is now the ideal backdrop for the couple’s vintage (and vintage-inspired) furnishings, art and accessories, many with vibrant bursts of color. “I’ve been collecting midcentury art and objects since I was 15,” he says. “I was obsessed with buying funky midcentury ceramics and ashtrays when I wasn’t even of age to smoke, back during a
period when midcentury wasn’t appreciated the way it is now and was practically free at antique and thrift shops.”
Someday, Blaine and Lincoln will retire to the Bermuda Dunes home. Until that time comes, the home serves as a vacation spot for the couple and for those who take advantage of the couple's listing on Airbnb (search for “Mid Century Modern Haven in Bermuda Dunes” if you want to book a stay). The modern home’s best role, though, was as the setting for Blaine and Lincoln's November wedding.
“We had just planned to get hitched at the Palm Springs city hall, but a year before decided it would be more fun and special to do a tiny ceremony in the backyard since most of our closest friends and family are already there,” Blaine says. “That house is my favorite place to be, we plan to retire there, so it felt right to celebrate a union there.”