Luke Leuschner
SMOKE TREE RANCH
Photo credits (top to bottom, L to R): UC Santa Barbara Geospatial Collection; Desert Sun 26 November 1937; Collection of the author; Maynard Parker Collection, Huntington Library.
Smoke Tree Ranch is a historic development in Palm Springs known for its famous residents, architecture, and complete integration with the natural desert. Since its founding in the 1920s, it has set forth a rigorous standard of desert-centric architecture and planning which it still retains.
Albert Frey, John Porter Clark, E. Stewart Williams, and William Cody were among a number of modern architects who were presented with these standards and responded with distinctive Desert Modern homes.
In 2021, I was commissioned by Smoke Tree Ranch to be in charge of processing, repairing, and digitizing their entire architecture archive — a project which has (successfully) preserved their architectural legacy for decades to come.
Albert Frey, John Porter Clark, E. Stewart Williams, and William Cody were among a number of modern architects who were presented with these standards and responded with distinctive Desert Modern homes.
In 2021, I was commissioned by Smoke Tree Ranch to be in charge of processing, repairing, and digitizing their entire architecture archive — a project which has (successfully) preserved their architectural legacy for decades to come.